The Fair Lady
by FromShadows8673
Summary: After defeating Quelaag in battle, but not killing her, a nameless warrior comes across her ailing sister. He vows to do everything in his power to cure her and makes an elixir which he hopes will remove the blight from her body, but the healing process is slow and uncertain. While they wait for her to heal he begins to form a friendship with Quelaag, despite her aggressive nature.
1. Chapter 1

As I walk up to the edge of the scaffolding a wall of cold, putrid air hits me straight in the face. I had convinced myself that there existed no worse stench than that which I was forced to endure in the Depths before, but I was sorely mistaken. The smell penetrates through my leather mask as if it isn't even there. I instinctively step back as I choke the fowl air out of my lungs. I take a few more steps back until my leg bumps into a soft, leathery mass. I jolt around as I grab the hilt of my sword, instantly cursing myself for my carelessness. If there's one thing that I've learned since becoming afflicted with the undead curse, it's that you can never let your guard down. As I draw my sword I realize that I had just stepped on the body of one of the undead that I had killed moments ago. Its discolored skin and bloated body, along with its horrendous smell, makes me wonder how it had managed to move around without falling apart before. I look up at the walkway that I came from. The bodies of various disfigured undead are strewn across the rotting floor. I have not seen undead quite like them before. I walk back towards the edge of the scaffolding, this time bracing myself for the smell. The sight before me makes my heart drop in my boots.

A large, cavern-like expanse lay before me. From where I'm standing I can see that the bottom of this place must be several dozens of meters below. I can barely make out the bottom through the murky air, but it looks like a swamp of sorts awaits me there. Sprawled out in front of me, on various different levels of elevation, are a plethora of twisted bridges and rickety scaffolding. The scaffolding seems to go down all the way to the bottom and is likely the only way to get all the way down. Instead of several pieces of scaffolding the whole thing seems like one large wooden edifice. I can vaguely see humanoid figures moving in the dim torchlight littering the structure. The whole thing looks like it could collapse at any moment and traversing it will surely be suicidal. This must be Blighttown. That apathetic fellow at Firelink Shrine mentioned this place. "The other bell is back down below the Undead Burg, within the plague-infested Blighttown," he had said. I am unsure why I've so willingly followed his directions up to this point, as it's landed me in nothing but trouble. I fought my way through an Undead-infested town, battling a giant bull-demon and two sword-shattering gargoyles to ring the first bell. Then, as per his advice, I trudged through the rat-infested Depths to get here. Seeing as there's no obvious bell in sight I'm convinced that I'm going to have to traverse the wooden deathtrap in front of me until I get to the bottom.

I carefully climb down a short ladder in front of me onto the first of many small platforms that make up the structure. It's not long before the first undead comes charging at me. The wood beneath my feet trembles as the hulking creature comes towards me at a surprising speed. I grasp the hilt of my sword tightly, holding it in front of my chest with both hands. The creature suddenly lunges forward at me, leaping through the air with inhuman agility. Like some of the other creatures I fought when coming into the area it uses what appears to be part of a human corpse as a makeshift club. I roll forward just as it brings its club down and it crashes into the spot I was standing on. As I get up a plank gives way under my right foot and I just barely manage to keep myself from toppling over the edge. I realize just how close I came to rolling over the side. The creature has already spun around and stares at me menacingly. Normally an enemy like this wouldn't intimidate me too much. It's not very smart and easy to predict. A simple roll would normally land me right behind the creature, opening up an opportunity for a backstab that would almost certainly finish it off in an instant. But here, on this rotting wooden structure, my mobility is severely limited and even this lowly undead has become a serious threat. I suddenly feel very vulnerable, considering I have no shield or other means of protection save for my sword. The creature lifts its club in the air, but this time I lunge forward at it before it can attack. Three quick slices across its chest causes it to drop down to its knees. I drive my sword through its throat and it drops to the ground, writhing and gargling for a few moments before I push it over the edge of the platform with my boot.

I continue along the scaffolding with my sword drawn, nervously eyeing every plank I step on while keeping an eye on my surroundings. I stop every few steps to look behind me, not wanting anything to sneak up on me. The next undead still manages to surprise me though. It jumps down from a higher level and lands with a loud crack, shattering a plank beneath it, but it doesn't fall all the way through. It immediately rears up like the one before it did and I instinctively know that it's going to lunge at me. Instead of rolling away I fall flat on my stomach as the creature comes flying through the air. As I had hoped, it completely overextends itself and flies over the edge of the platform. I get up just in time to see the undead creature plummet to its death. A faint splashing sound confirms that some sort of swamp likely lies at the bottom of this place. I resume my cumbersome traversal, having set my sights on a much more solid-looking platform a few yards away. It appears to be part of a large support structure consisting of several interlinking columns. The columns go all the way up to the ceiling, likely holding up a part of the Depths. The platform, like the columns, seems to be made of a sturdy material, which will be a welcome relief from the frail wood that I'm walking on. While I focus on the masonry in front of me I almost get caught off guard by another undead on my right. I just barely catch a glimmer of steel in the corner of my eye and instantly go down on my haunches. As anticipated the creature lunges at me, but I can see that this one is going to make contact. I desperately roll over in the direction of the creature, hoping to roll underneath it, but it lands with a knee on my ribs, nearly knocking the wind out of my lungs. The broken piece of sword in its hands lands right where I was standing. I grimace at the pain in my ribs, but I manage to grab its leg and roll towards it. I push the thing's leg as I roll, flipping it over the edge. I get up and test my ribs with a prodding finger. It doesn't feel like anything's broken.

To my surprise I find a bonfire on the bridge-like platform interlinking two huge columns. Barely burning as intense as a handful of candles, its feint heat nonetheless provides a great deal of comfort in this cold and murky place. I take a moment to sit down next to the fire and rest. Besides providing a bit of comfort, these mysterious fires also exhibit powerful healing abilities. As the glow of the fire washes over me I can feel the pain dissipate from my ribs until there is nothing left. I untie my jerkin and lift up my undershirt to look at the area where the undead landed on me. There's not a bruise in sight. Satisfied, I pick myself up and retie my jerkin. As I walk away from the fire, the bitter cold air once again cradles my skin, cutting through my leather garments as if they were nothing. I can see that the scaffolding continues for quite some distance, however, I can make out a path that seems to be going towards the bottom. I walk up to the edge of the platform, where a ladder goes down to a level of scaffolding below. I slowly climb down the ladder, preparing myself for the rest of the journey to the bottom of Blighttown.


	2. Chapter 2

I quickly look around myself as I pull my sword from my latest enemy's head. It's a giant insect-like creature that stands almost as tall as my waist. Its grotesque form hints that it might have been a human undead at some point, transformed into this creature by who-knows-what. This is evidenced by its fleshy exterior, which contrasts the hard carapace of most insects. The tiny wings sprouting from its back seem to be near useless, as they're far too small in relation to its body to grant it flight. I've already dispatched quite a few of these creatures that began popping up as I reached the lower levels of Blighttown. Compared to everything else I had to fight on the way here, they don't pose much of a threat. That is, as long as I get to them quickly. They have the ability to spit fire, albeit not at a great distance. The rest of the journey down was arduous to say the least. Between the countless undead ghouls attacking me on ledges barely big enough to walk on and blow-dart-wielding undead shooting at me from near-unreachable ledges, I can hardly believe that I made it to the bottom. Don't even get me started on those infernal hounds that, like these insects, are able to breathe fire for some reason, although they're much more mobile than these things, making them significantly more dangerous. When I finally dislodge my sword from the creature's head, satisfied that there aren't any more of them in my immediate vicinity, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I regret it immediately, realizing that the smell has somehow gotten worse as I neared the swamp, although I've at least gotten somewhat used to it by now.

The swamp appears to be devoid of all life, save for a few insect-like creatures much like the ones I encountered on the lower levels of the scaffolding. There is a layer of murky water covering most of the area. It has a putrid green tinge to it and I can practically see noxious fumes rising out of it. From what I've seen while making my way down here this water is supplemented by runoff water coming from the Depths. I can see that there are some parts along the wall on both my sides that aren't submerged by water that might be big enough for me to walk on. It does however look like I'll have to slog through the water at some point, as there doesn't seem to be any continuous unsubmerged path going in either direction. Although it's difficult to see from here it appears as though the path to my left leads deeper into the swamp. The path to my right might just lead to where I want to go then. I walk down to the edge of the last wooden platform, which after seeing what I'm going to have to walk through now, doesn't seem so bad anymore. I unsheathe my sword and slowly lower its blade straight down into the vile water. To my relief it doesn't take very long for my blade to touch semi-solid earth, indicating that the water is quite shallow here. That doesn't mean that it won't get deeper as I continue though. The ease with which my blade slides further through the mud is a little concerning, but it does eventually reach solid ground. The air has become even colder down here and I'm suddenly made aware of my own shivering as I shakily return my sword to its sheath. I carefully climb down into the water, first testing the depth with my right foot. It's as cold as I thought it would be and I waste no time getting to the wall where solid ground awaits.

As I come around the first corner in the wall I'm once again greeted by the friendly glow of a bonfire in front of me. It sits on a slightly elevated level inside an inlet which seems to be where more runoff water enters the swamp. I gladly embrace the mellow heat as I approach the bonfire. Before sitting down next to it I take of my severely water-logged boots, shake them out and throw them to the side. I sit down as close to the fire as possible, laying my legs down on either side of it to allow my trousers to dry. I once again feel the comforting healing touch of the fire spread through my body. My lungs had started to burn from the noxious gas emanating from the swamp. The skin on my lower legs had started to burn as well and I can see the redness fading from my feet as I remove my woolen socks. Despite the fact that I only trudged through the water for a few meters it was still a huge detriment to my body. I threw up as soon as I set foot on solid ground and struggled along the wall until I got to the bonfire. I don't know if I would have been able to continue any further if it wasn't here. Once my feet are dry I get up to have a look at my surroundings. Although the floor is cold beneath my bare feet I want to give them a chance to breathe a bit before I stuff them back inside my boots. As I suspected the inlet leads to a dead end. At the mouth of the inlet I can see that the wall goes into a bend to my right. For the first time since reaching the bottom level I notice a sound in the same direction. It hadn't occurred to me until now how eerily quiet the swamp actually is. One would normally expect a symphony of sounds coming from all manner of critters in a swamp. Now all I can hear is the feint creaking sound of wood. It is a consistent sound, indicating that it might be coming from some sort of mechanical device. Intrigued, I briefly forget about how tired I actually am, throw on my socks and boots and begin to make my way along the wall once again.

The source of the noise is in fact a mechanical structure, though much cruder than I would have expected. It appears to be used to transport materials to and from higher levels, although no-one appears to be manning it at the moment. Judging by its looks one could likely also use it as a makeshift elevator to get to higher levels. Although I'm curious as to where it leads I also remember the warrior at Firelink Shrine mentioning that the second bell of awakening is at the bottom of Blighttown. As I look around I spot something intriguing in the distance. Contrasting against the dark walls and murky water sits a huge white mound against the furthest wall. It has a number of dark spikes that almost look like roots protruding from it. I can see at least three rather large undead holding huge boulders above their heads standing at the base of the mound. The way they're standing makes me think that they're guarding something. That instinctively makes me want to approach, as I'll likely find the other bell of awakening somewhere beyond the mound. I once again trudge through the toxic water of the swamp towards the first of the three undead. Once it spots me it immediately pulls the boulder it's holding back over its head and flings it straight at me, just as I reach the edge of the water. Unable to properly dodge I fall forward onto the solid ground in front of me. The boulder barely misses me and I'm nearly drenched in putrid water as it splashes into the swamp behind me. I feel a few droplets hit me, but the majority of the water thankfully doesn't reach me. As I get up the hulking undead charges at me, but I easily dispatch this newly unarmed foe. The second one follows shortly after it, but on solid ground I easily dodge the boulder it throws at me and finish it with a quick sword to the back. The third one falls just as easily, despite it actually trying to smash the boulder down on me instead of throwing it. As I catch my breath I can once again feel my legs begin to burn from the toxic swamp water. With the bonfire behind me on the other side of the swamp I desperately look around for something else that might be able to help me expunge the toxin from my body. At the foot of the last of the huge pillars sprouting out of the swamp I see, to my surprise, someone on the ground looking up at me.


	3. Chapter 3

I carefully approach the figure, hand on sword, just in case they try something. Though all the enemies I've encountered thus far have been fairly obvious in their intent to harm me, I still can't be too careful. As I approach I can see that they have a feminine stature, likely a female. Her black robes are dirty and tattered, indicating that she's likely been in the swamp for a long time. Her face is obstructed by a rather ominous-looking hood. Her hands appear to be the only parts of her body that are uncovered. Her alabaster skin contrasts starkly against the patch of solid ground she's sitting on, almost shining in the dim light. Although her body language is quite feeble, I can feel a sense of power emanating from her.

"Fear not, undead," she says as I come to a standstill in front of her. "I am Quelana, of Izalith. I am not often revealed to mere undead, yet you can undoubtedly see me. What is your name, stranger?"

Her voice is hushed and gentle, yet it rings with a tone of scratchiness that betrays her true age. Her polished skin contrasts this, as it is more akin to that of a young maiden.

"I know not my true name, nor where I come from," I reply. "Those I've met on my journey thus far have only referred to me as the Chosen Undead."

"Tell me, Chosen Undead: Have you come here in search of pyromancies?" she asks.

"No, I don't have a knack for any form of magic. I prefer to use my sword in battle," I say, realizing that my hand is still on the hilt of my sword. I quickly let go of my sword and cross my arms in front of me. She exudes an air of wisdom and power that's a bit unnerving, almost intimidating.

"In that case we have no business with each other. I would suggest…" she starts, but suddenly stops herself.

Quelana sits upright and looks at me intently. Although it's difficult to tell with her hood obstructing her face, it appears as though she's looking at my arms in front of my chest. She stares for a few uncomfortable seconds, then speaks again:

"That ring you're wearing, where did you get it?" she asks.

I look down at the bronze ring on the index finger of my right hand. The strange ring is mostly plain, save for an engraving on its front in some language unknown to me.

"I was imprisoned in an asylum for accursed undead," I say. "A stranger helped me escape by throwing a key into my cell. This ring was also there, though I'm unsure if he gave it to me or if it was already there. I may have even had it from before then. I do not remember much of my life before that day in the asylum."

Quelana once again stares at me for a few seconds. She brings her hands up to her face, then seems to hesitate for a moment before slowly pulling her hood off of her head. She has a fair face, her jet-black hair contrasting against her deathly white skin. Her delicate features make her look quite beautiful, but her eyes seem old. She looks tired, as if she has had to deal with a great deal of hardship in her life.

"That ring once belonged to my family," she says. "It was used by my mother and sisters to communicate with those who speak languages other than them. I too once used such a ring, though I left it behind a long time ago. I have since learned to speak in your tongue."

She appears to be getting quite emotional as she says this.

"Why did you leave it behind?" I ask curiously.

Though I usually prefer not to meddle with other people's business, I feel a strange sense of empathy for her. Perhaps she reminds me of someone in my previous life. Or perhaps she even reminds me a little of myself.

"My mother is the Witch of Izalith," she says and immediately notices my surprise. "You have likely heard the story before, of how my mother tried to recreate the First Flame, but failed. Instead, she created the Chaos, which transformed the people of Izalith into demons. I managed to escape any form of transformation, though my mother and most of my sisters didn't. Two of them were only partially transformed and also left Izalith. You will likely find them through there, as that nest is their doing," she says as she points at the mound behind me.

"You don't live with them?" I ask.

"No," she says. "I love my sisters, but I can't bring myself to talk to them. I escaped from the Chaos unscathed, while they suffered horrible mutations. One of them, Quelaag, sometimes leaves the nest to hunt in Blighttown. When I lay eyes on her I become angry, both at my mother for causing all of this, and at myself for being the only one that made it out unharmed."

She looks at the ground as she says that. Small dots begin to appear on her robe as tears fall from her face. I feel like I should try to comfort her, but at the same time I know that I shouldn't. Against my better judgement I kneel down in front of her and put my hand on her shoulder. She wipes her sleeve across her face and looks up at me. Still filled with tears, her eyes look even more tired than before.

"May I ask you a favor, stranger?" she whispers. "I do not know what my sisters will do to you when you enter their domain, but I fear they may not be friendly. If you end up fighting them, would you please be sure to end them swiftly? I am sure they have suffered a great deal more than I have. I think it would bring me some peace of mind if I know that they suffer no more."

I do not answer her as I stand up. I simply nod my head. She also remains silent, only bowing her head in thanks, then pulls her hood back over her head.


	4. Chapter 4

As I step onto the huge mound at the edge of Blighttown I look back at where Quelana was sitting before. The spot where she was sitting is now empty. It's as though she's vanished into thin air, as I didn't hear her get up or plod through the water. I turn around and take a step forward, but my it feels like my foot is pulled back by something. I look down and lift my other foot, which also meets some resistance. I squat down to take a closer look at the surface I'm walking on. The whole mound appears to be made of some sort of sticky, silky substance. I get back up and look at the hole at the back of the mound. I begin to feel uneasy as I recall how Quelana referred to this place as her sister's "nest". With some effort I walk up to the hole and peer inside. A tunnel winds down for a few hundred feet and ends in an all-too-familiar grey wall. I step through the entrance and begin to make my way down the pathway. About halfway along the way are a handful of creatures standing on all fours. Upon closer inspection they appear to be human, or once were. They have huge clusters on their backs rising up as tall as I am. The clusters look a lot like eggs, similar to those that a spider would carry on her back. As I approach one of the creatures, ready to draw my weapon, it looks up at me. Its chest is planted firmly on the ground, likely pinned down by the weight of the mound on its back. Its hands are extended in front of its face, clasped together as if in prayer. I slowly walk past the creatures as they look up at me, reasonably sure that none of them are hostile.

The grey wall at the end of the corridor is a deceptive one. Although from afar it appears to be a solid wall, it's actually just a thick layer of fog. Almost perfectly flat, it rises up from the ground and goes all the way up to the ceiling. I've seen a few of these before and, although I'm unsure of how or why they occur, they almost always precede a fight with a very powerful enemy. It's as if it serves as some sort of gateway that's linked to the soul of the particular enemy it leads to. I reach out to touch the fog and a warm sensation envelops my hand. The fog gently pulls at me, as if beckoning me to step inside. I comply, taking a step forward and letting the fog rush over my face and the rest of my body. As I enter the fog a rushing sound booms into my ears. For a moment it's as if I'm frozen in time. The gentle warmth of the fog caresses my skin as the harsh wind-like sound nearly deafens me. Then I'm suddenly on the other side of the fog again, my foot coming down as if I was just taking a normal step. The ear-splitting sound stops, but the tingling warmth remains on my skin. I turn around and touch the fog again, but on this side, it feels like a solid wall. As with other fog walls I've gone through before, it won't allow me to go back. I turn around once more to face the room I've entered. The large room in front of me is lined with the same web-like material as the corridor preceding it. Also lining the walls and ceiling of this room are the same egg-like clusters that I saw on the backs of those creatures before, only these are much bigger. Although the floor is made of the same sticky material, it seems to be more worn, as I do not feel as much resistance when lifting my feet. I would guess the room to be about two hundred paces long and fifty paces wide. At the far end of the room sits a small brick structure with a door leading out. Save for the structure, the room appears to be empty. 'n Draw my sword nonetheless and slowly begin walking towards the other side.

I can feel the air become marginally warmer as I take the first few steps towards the door. After a few paces I'm stopped dead in my tracks by what I see suddenly emerging from the ruined structure on the other end of the room. A menacing figure pokes its head out of the door and clambers down a few steps to the base of the structure. The huge, spider-like creature's head is home to more than a dozen eyes and a mouth large enough to swallow a man whole. Its eight-legged body glows red and appears to be sprouting fire at the back. At first it looks like a woman was riding on the spider's back, but as it gets closer I realize that she is adjoined to the spider at her waist. I shift my focus to the woman, who appears to be completely naked. Her skin is a soft white, almost as pale as Quelana's. Her slender upper body sits atop her spider base with a confident form. Her red hair looks as though it could almost be burning as two locks run down from either side of her head onto her chest, just barely covering her breasts. Her fiery hair perfectly accentuates the sharp features of her face, making her look both dauntingly fierce and strikingly beautiful. Distracted, I almost fail to notice the flaming sword she's holding in her right hand. Seeing my reaction as she gets closer, she gives a sly smile before her spider-body rears back and leaps into the air.

I dodge out of the way as the huge spider-creature comes bearing down at me. She lands with a thud where I was standing, smile gone from her face. She looks at me intently while her spider body ungracefully turns towards me. I notice that this will be a weakness for the creature, as its spiny legs and oversized abdomen make it turn quite slowly. She doesn't wait for her body to turn though, as she rears up her sword and swings it down at me. I can feel an intense heat coming from the magical blade as I roll backwards to avoid it. It leaves a trail of brilliant red in its wake, seemingly burning more intensely whenever she swings it. As soon as I recover from my roll her spider-half rears back once again and I prepare for it to pounce once more. However, instead of jumping into the air, it opens its maw and begins to spew lava in my direction. I franticly dodge to the side, trying to keep her sword-wielding upper half in my vision at the same time. The spider's head continues to spit lava onto the floor in front of it for a few seconds, giving me a brief chance to catch my breath. This creature is obviously the sister that Quelana was talking about. Not only does her frightening spider-half match Quelana's vague description of her, but I can notice a definite resemblance in their faces. I consider my options for a moment. Although Quelana asked me to kill her sisters if they attacked me, I'm strangely inclined not to harm her. I was intrigued by Quelana's story and, perhaps foolishly, thought that I could learn more about them from her sisters. I also haven't noticed any trace of the other sister Quelana mentioned. I wonder what has caused my sudden unexplained bout of empathy. Perhaps they remind me of something or someone in the previous life that I had so abruptly forgotten. Perhaps I'm simply attracted to their beauty. It is a rare thing in this world, after all.

As the woman turns to look at me I sheathe my sword and hold my hands up in front of me.

"I don't want to hurt you," I say, trying to sound as reassuring as I can.

She tilts her head at what I say, looking surprised, but also half-amused. She rears up again, this time leaping at me again to cover the distance I managed to create between us. This time her spider-half also spits a few globs of lava as it comes crashing to the ground. I roll away from it and her follow-up attack once again and she gives a frustrated grunt.

"I'm serious," I start again. "I didn't come here to fight you. I met your sister, Quelana, outside."

She jolts her head towards me as I say that name. Her expression changes from one of surprise to one of sadness, and she pauses for a moment before opening her mouth to speak. She is visibly hesitant as she shakes her head and raises her sword, transforming her expression into one of anger. Before I can say any more she swings her sword at me, following up with a lunge that grazes my side mid-dodge. The attack knocks me off balance and I fall face-first onto the ground. I pull myself to my feet just in time to see her bend down over her spider-head and caress it with both arms. Her whole body begins to emanate a red glow, similar to that of her sword whenever she attacks. I instinctively leap backwards, but the explosion still catches me right in the face. A scorching heat envelops my body as the blast flings me backwards through the air. My head comes cracking down onto the ground as I fall on my back several paces away. For a moment my vision goes completely black and a sharp ringing noise sounds in my ears. I rapidly blink my eyes and my vision returns, although quite hazily. The ringing also begins to clear from my ears and I hear the thumping sound of eight legs approaching me. As I try to lift my head a blinding pain shoots into it. My vision goes dark again, but not before I see the hulking spider-creature come to a halt on top of me, just before I black out.

As I regain consciousness I notice that the worst of the pain has already subsided from my head. I slowly open my eyes. It takes a few seconds for my vision to come into focus. The first thing I see is the massive gaping maw a couple of inches above my chest. Its beady eyes don't seem to be focused on me, instead looking straight in front of it. Just above the head, its humanoid upper body is holding her sword in both of her hands, pointing down at my head. She also doesn't appear to be focused on me, looking off to the side, as if in contemplation. Before I can take advantage of the situation she turns her head down towards me. She looks surprised that I'm awake and, just for a moment, it appears as though her grip on her sword falters. She quickly recovers and places an angry expression on her face once more, although not a convincing one. She pulls her sword up a few inches, readying herself to thrust it down into my face. Thinking quickly, I grab her spider-half's head, which has only now turned its attention back to me. As it's a spider, it's whole body is covered in long bristly hairs. I grab onto these hairs on the bottom of its head and pull myself underneath the beast. I feel the woman's sword crash down behind me, barely missing my head. I suddenly feel an intense heat coming from the spider above me and instinctively know it's getting ready to spit lava underneath itself. I grab onto one of its legs, launch my feet out through them and push myself away from the beast. Ready for a counter attack from her upper-half I quickly stumble onto my feet. I instantly feel lightheaded as blood rushes from my head, which almost causes me to black out again. As I recover, the spider-creature turns towards me, plodding its feet through the lava underneath it. This time I draw my sword.


	5. Chapter 5

Panting heavily, I finally lower my sword, satisfied that my enemy will no longer try to fight back. Her spider-half lies nearly motionless before me, its eight legs stretched out along the ground. Her upper body is hunched over, resting against her spider head. For the first time my head is level with hers, but she keeps hers hanging down. She is visibly exhausted after the fight. As am I. Though she posed quite the challenge, I was able to defeat her without sustaining any further injuries after the blast. I keep an eye on her spider-half as we both take a moment to catch our breath. It doesn't look like it's going to stand up any time soon, seeing as it took the brunt of the strikes from my sword. Her upper body, being in an elevated position, didn't sustain as much as a scratch. I look around the room and confirm that her sword is still lying several feet behind her, as I had managed to relieve her of it during the fight.

"You fight well," she suddenly pants, startling me.

She pushes her torso up, using the spider as support, and lifts her head.

"As do you," I say as I sheathe my sword.

"Are you going to finish me, then?" she asks in a serious tone.

"Like I said," I continue. "I didn't come here to kill you. I'm looking for a bell and was told it was at the end of Blighttown."

"Every fool comes here in search of that bell," she snarks. "They all end up the same: On the end of my blade."

"I didn't," I say. "I also met a woman named Quelana outside. She's your sister, isn't she?"

She shifts her gaze from me for a moment, looking down at the groggy spider below her. I notice for the first time that she has been lightly stroking the top of its head this whole time.

"You would be wise to keep your nose out of my business," she says.

"I do not know what she told you, but do not expect the same kind of hospitality from me. I have no interest in you humans. If you so desperately seek to ring the bell, go through that door and you will find it," she says as she points at the ruined building behind us.

"Ring the bell, then leave this place," she spits, grimacing as her spider-body shifts itself underneath her.

I can't help but feel like she's being purposefully evasive, as if there's something she's trying to hide. I want to ask her about the other sister that Quelana mentioned, but I fear it will just anger her further. Perhaps she is being deliberately vague in order to lead me into some sort of trap. Perhaps her sister will be waiting for me on the other side of the door, ready to catch me by surprise. I consider all these things as I silently turn away from her and begin to make my way towards the door. I suddenly hear her body shift behind me. As I look back I see her trying to will her spider-half to get up, feebly pushing against one of its legs. The spider manages to raise itself a few inches from the ground before its wobbly legs collapse underneath it and it hits the ground with a thud. I turn my focus back to the door in front of me as she immediately starts pulling on the same leg again, ever determined.

As I step through the door I enter a dilapidated room that looks as though it could once have been a bell tower. In the center of the circular room a hole in the floor is covered by more of the egg-like spheres I saw before. I look straight above the wall to see a huge bell hanging from the ceiling. It looks exactly like the one I had rung before. On the other side of the room is a lever, also similar to the one I had used to ring the other bell. I can see no sign of someone else in this room, though I keep my hand on the hilt of my sword. On the right side of the room it appears as though a staircase spirals down to a lower level. I ignore the stairs for now, instead walking up to the lever. I grab it with both hands and pull it back. The mechanism screeches as I heft it backwards with all my strength and the bell lets out a loud chime that echoes through the tower. The ground vibrates as the bell sings its song for a few seconds before coming to an abrupt halt. I stand there for a while, half-expecting something else to happen. This is, after all, what I've come all this way to do. After a few more minutes of nothing happening I slump my shoulders and decide to make my way down the spiraling staircase in the room. I realize once again that I don't actually know what I was supposed to expect, as the warrior at Firelink Shrine was quite vague in his explanation of what I was supposed to do. Perhaps he will have more answers for me once I get back to the Shrine. For now, I'll just explore this place a bit more. Once at the bottom of the stairs I'm in a room similar in size to the one above. The walls of the room are also covered with the white spheres from before, save for two patches on the side across from me. On the patch to the left there is a large hole in the wall that appears to lead to another area. An eerie red glow emanates from the hole, though the other patch in the wall grabs my attention. Though the actual wall does not look like anything special, its size and the fact that it's not covered with those eggs peaks my interest. I draw my sword and approach the wall, as I instinctively expect it to be a trap. Perhaps I am just paranoid, because, as I stand in front of the wall, it doesn't appear to be particularly special. I relax my stance and lower my sword, though I can't shake the feeling that there's something off about it. As I begin to turn around, I lift up my sword and use the tip to prod the wall. Though I half-expected it, I'm still startled when my sword goes straight through the wall with no resistance. The patch in the wall begins to fade, and then disappears as the illusion is dispelled.

Behind the illusionary wall is a short hallway that ends in a tall doorway. Sitting in the doorway is a humanoid creature kneeled down on all fours. He looks a lot like the creatures that I had seen prior to entering the spider-creature's lair, with the same egg-like spheres on his back as those that line the walls. I carefully approach, noticing a faint flickering light behind him that throws his shadow around the hallway in varying shapes and contours. Although he appears as harmless as the others I had seen before, I keep my sword drawn as I approach, still wary at the possibility of an imminent trap.

"Oh, dear," he begins to speak as I near him. "What have we here? Are you a new servant?"

He looks up at me, barely able to lift his head from the ground. Although he appears to be in a great deal of discomfort, I can still see the faintest of smiles on his face. He clearly notices the confusion on my face, as the smile disappears from his.

"You are here to serve the Fair Lady, are you not?" he asks. "Why else would mistress Quelaag let you through?"

I assume he is referring to the woman whom I had just fought.

"Yes, I am here to serve the Fair Lady," I quickly say, not wanting to admit that I had defeated her.

"But you have no eggs," he says. "Bah, no matter! Go along and have audience with our Fair Lady. I pray that you will mind your manners!"

He makes a gesture with his left arm and begins to slowly crawl backwards and to the side, revealing the bonfire behind him. Once out of the doorway he looks at me excitedly and beckons with his head towards the wall opposite of him. As I step through the doorway I'm greeted by a most unexpected sight. A fair-haired woman stands before the bonfire with her hands clasped together, as if in prayer. Her hair is as white as her skin, which is so pale it seems dim, even in the firelight. Similar to Quelaag, her hair runs down her shoulders in two locks on either side, covering her otherwise bare breasts. As I look down at her lower body, I instantly know that this is the other sister that Quelana had mentioned. Just like Quelaag, her upper body sits atop a giant spider head. The rest of the spider-body is almost completely covered in eggs, embedding it in the wall. Its legs are sprawled out around it and it barely moves at all. She appears to be very ill, as even her ghostly white skin seems dull and drab. I turn my attention to her face. Despite the dark patches under her closed eyes, she is just as beautiful as her sister. I slowly approach her, not wanting to disturb her prayer.

"Quelaag?" she says in a shaky voice.


	6. Chapter 6

The gentle crackling of the fire hums softly in my ears as I lose myself in the heart of the flame for a moment. It's as if the bonfire's soothing heat cradles me as a mother would cradle her child. Having shed my boots and put my weapon aside, I feel vulnerable, yet at the same time I couldn't be more relaxed. Giving my eyes a break from the flame, I look at the three other figures in front of me. To my left, the Fair Lady, who's name I've yet to learn, stands feebly in front of the fire. Her hands remain clasped in front of her and, as she is blind, her eyes remain ever closed. To my right her servant, who has told me his name is Eingyi, shifts his gaze between her and the fire, constantly making sure that she is as comfortable as she can be. Opposite me, on the other side of the hallway where I had entered this room, Quelaag vigilantly sits watch. She had managed to retrieve her sword and made her way to the bottom of the bell-tower while I was conversing with Eingyi and the Fair Lady. She didn't look very happy to see me here, but at the same time she seemed relieved that I had not harmed her sister. She hasn't however taken her eyes off of me since. Her sister has not told me much about them thus far. She told me many of the same things that Quelana had told me before. When I mentioned Quelana to her, her reaction was much more emotional than her sister's. The Fair Lady had nearly burst into tears at the mention of her name, saying that she would love to see Quelana again. She was elated when I told her that Quelana was alive and well in Blighttown, her spider-legs twitching with excitement. Being much more amiable than Quelaag, she showed concern for me as well. She expressed concern that her sister might have given me a hard time, knowing her hostile nature. I had assured her that it was nothing I couldn't handle, much to the visible annoyance of Quelaag.

I hold eye contact with Quelaag for a while, a faint memory of a silly childhood game softly buzzing in the back of my mind. Not really knowing why, I do not blink as I stare at her. She doesn't blink either as she stares back at me from across the room, and I can't help but feel a tingle of playfulness arise. I'm interrupted by Eingyi suddenly speaking, faltering my gaze for just a moment. I'm almost certain I can see a smug smile briefly appear on Quelaag's face before she returns to her regular aggravated expression.

"You are lucky to be able to speak to the mistress, stranger," he says. His eyes remain fixed on the Fair Lady as he talks:

"There is only so much comfort I can provide her, as I am unable to speak in her tongue."

"Why is it that you serve her so diligently?" I ask.

He seems taken aback by what I say, almost as if the answer was obvious.

"The Fair Lady and her sister came to us from Izalith," he says. "They settled here at the edge of Blighttown and brought many of us with them as servants. When they found us, we were afflicted with a great blight."

He shifts his gaze away from her and onto the fire.

"The Lady wept for us and, against mistress Quelaag's wishes, she drank up all our blight pus," he says. His voice becomes shaky as he continues:

"We were cured of the blight, but the mistress fell deathly ill. Her body became frail and weak and she lost her sight. She was made Firekeeper of this bonfire to keep her alive."

Tears begin to fall from Eingyi's face as he looks back up at the Fair Lady.

"Now she spends her days in constant pain, laying countless eggs that bear no life," he continues. "We, who serve her, carry some of the eggs as a sign of devotion. Mistress Quelaag spends most of her days hunting for humanity to offer to the Fair Lady, as it is the only thing that eases her pain."

I turn my gaze towards Quelaag as he says this and she quickly looks away, wiping a hand across her cheek as she does so. I look up at the Fair Lady, who remains in silent prayer the whole time. I recall that I have collected some humanity myself through my travels thus far.

I'm unsure what exactly the strange phenomena that is humanity actually is. Though it isn't entirely corporeal, I am aware of that which I have in my possession. When I think of them, they swirl up inside my chest and I can feel each individual humanity inside of me. I get up from where I'm sitting in front of the fire and walk up to the Fair Lady. Both Eingyi and Quelaag appear to tense up as I walk up to her, though I try to give them a look of reassurance. As I stand in front of the Fair Lady, I bring the thought of humanity to the forefront of my mind. I can feel them swirling up inside me, like two dozen butterflies fluttering inside my chest. I clasp my hands around hers, startled at how bitterly cold they are. The humanity instantly responds to her touch and I can feel them moving up into my arms. I focus my mind on releasing them as they travel through my arms and into her hands. She gives a slight jolt, lightly tugging at my hands as the humanity travels into her. Her skin lights up for a moment and one of her spider legs begins to twitch as if it's going to get up. However, the humanity's effect soon fades. Her limbs once again become still and her skin returns to its pallid tone.

"Thank you, stranger," the Fair Lady says softly.

"It does not look like it did a great deal," I say dejectedly.

"Every bit helps to ease my pain, even if it does not appear so," she says as she lightly squeezes my hands.

I let go of hers and turn to Eingyi, who is looking at me with a warm smile. Even Quelaag's expression seems less belligerent as I glance over at her while sitting down next to Eingyi.

"Have you tried any other means of curing her?" I ask him.

"There is only so much I can do, stranger," he says with a sigh. "The eggs on my back don't allow me to travel very far. Even mistress Quelaag is confined to the swamp, where there is nothing but death and disease."

"Has no one else come along who could have helped the Lady?" I ask.

"I do not know how you convinced mistress Quelaag, but she does not usually allow visitors to see the Fair Lady," he says as he gestures with his head to where Quelaag is sitting.

"However, there was one," he says. "She had arrived here while the mistress was out hunting. She was a cleric, concerned for the Fair Lady, as you are. She was proficient at many miracles, but none were able to cure my Lady's ailment."

"What happened to her?" I ask as I give Quelaag a condemning gaze.

"She began to develop an interest in this," he says and holds up a small, fur-covered acorn that had been lying underneath him.

I take the acorn from his hand to examine it more closely.

"It is an egg vermifuge," he says after a pause. "It is able to cure the infection of eggs that my fellow servants and I have. I would never use it, as I proudly wear the eggs in service to my Lady."

"Why did the cleric have interest in it?" I ask. "Was she infected?"

"No, no," he says. "She believed that it might be able to cure the Fair Lady's blight. She fed one to the Lady, but it did not have much of an effect. She believed that a more potent remedy needed to be made using the vermifuge."

"Was she able to make such a remedy?" I ask.

"No," he says dismally. "She set out to seek more vermifuges, but she never returned. I do not know where she went, but she believed that she needed to find a tree from which they grew."


	7. Chapter 7

The clanging of metal against metal begins to ring through the building again as I turn away from the blacksmith. The journey out of Blighttown was significantly less arduous than the one to get there, thanks to the shortcut I found back to Firelink Shrine. I then made my way to Andre, the blacksmith, to enquire about the forest he had mentioned to me before. I have no idea where I would find a tree from which the egg vermifuge acorns grow, but the most likely place would be in a forest. Especially one named Darkroot Garden, which indicates that it may have been a place where all sorts of plants were cultivated at some point. I step out of the blacksmith's workshop and into a large, dimly lit room. In the center of the room sits a creature that I haven't come across before. Its body is mostly humanoid in shape, though it's much bigger, easily being able to stand as tall as four humans stacked on top of each other. That is, if it were able to stand upright. Though it at first appeared to be kneeling down, I can now see that its left leg is missing. It rests atop the stump where its leg once was, supporting itself with its free hand. In the other hand it holds a large staff which looks more like an extension of its own body than a weapon. Its body is dark-grey in color and appears to be made completely out of some sort of metal. A long tail rests behind it, coiled up like a snake that's ready to strike. As my eyes adjust to the poor lighting I realize that it also lacks a head, having a smooth stub where its head would normally be. Two sickle-like protrusions rise up from behind this stub, making it look like it has very oddly-shaped horns. I begin to make my way towards the creature with my sword drawn, ready for a tough fight. Before I can even get close it lifts its staff into the air and a small cluster of lighting begins to appear at its tip. It swings the staff down like a butcher knife, flinging the lightning straight at me. It misses me as I dodge to the side. I immediately start rushing towards it as soon as I recover, not allowing it a chance to fling another projectile.

The creature swings its staff in a long arc as I approach it, which I swiftly dodge under. I follow up with a quick slash with my sword across its chest. The sword loudly clangs against the creature, sending a painful jolt through my arms as if I'd hit a solid wall. It recoils at the blow as any creature would and the scratch on its chest indicates that it at least took some damage. I get ready for a follow up slash, but the creature quickly raises its staff into the air and points to down at me. I jump behind the creature as the staff comes down. As it crashes into the ground it releases a pulse of lightning in a small circle. While it recovers I rapidly chop at it with my sword, leaving brisk flashes of silver light as the steel of my sword grates against its metallic skin. I see its body begin to tense up and instinctively take a step back. It leaps up into the air, swinging its tail at my head. I duck underneath it and immediately roll backwards as its staff comes crashing down at me. It's quicker to recover this time and I'm once again forced to dodge two swings of its staff. Though it swings its weapon quickly, its size and angle of attack makes it relatively easy to avoid.

After a few tiring minutes of dodging and swinging my sword, the huge metal creature finally falls to the ground. I take a minute to catch my breath before turning around and heading to the exit. I step outside of the building and am welcomed by a gentle breeze that carries the moldy smell of rotting leaves and tree-bark. Several trees dot the small area in front of me, which is bordered by a rocky cliff face that goes almost straight up in the sky. To my left a path seemingly leads to the only way forward. As I approach the pathway I'm startled by a sudden rustling in one of the nearby shrubs. I draw my sword, ready for someone or something to come jumping out at me. However, nothing comes jumping out of the shrub as I approach. Instead, the shrub itself leaps out of the ground and swings a vine-like tendril at me. I sidestep the blow and lunge forward, mowing the creature down in three quick slashes before it can respond. The tall plant-creature's root-like legs collapse underneath it and it falls to the ground. As it hits the ground a small clump of moss rolls towards my feet. I bend down and pick it up, remembering something that someone had told me before. In the undead town just outside of Firelink Shrine I met a merchant lady who had a particular fondness for this moss. She gave me a brief lesson on how to identify the moss, emphasizing its importance in the treatment of all kinds of poison. Although it's not what I came here for, anything that might be able to help the Fair Lady is worth picking up. I stuff the moss into my satchel and continue along the path before me. Another plant-creature uproots itself and comes running at me. I cut it down and collect the moss that it drops. The pathway becomes precariously narrow, with a drop off to my left that appears to go down several hundred feet. I hug the short cliff face to my right as I make my way along the path. Eventually I come across an opening in the cliff face with a path that veers off to the right. I decide to take the path, which makes a tight bend before going into a steep downwards angle.

At the end of the path I reach another open patch of land, though this one is much bigger. This is undoubtedly the forest that the blacksmith was talking about, or at least a part of it. The forest is relatively sparse, with ample distance to fight between trees. I'm happy about that, since I'm sure the forest has no shortage of creatures that will gladly attack me on sight. I barely take my first step into the forest when I spot the first of such creatures. The hulking knight slowly stands up from where it was lying on the ground. The giant, standing almost twice as tall as me, appears to be made completely out of stone. It is likely some sort of sentinel that protects the forest, only waking once someone approaches. It approaches me with its shield raised in its right hand, its other hand holding a hefty sword. I dodge underneath its first blow with ease, landing right behind it. I hammer away at its back with multiple quick slashes from my sword. It is rather slow to turn around, following up with a horizontal slash with its sword, then a downward slash, crashing its sword into the ground. Once again it takes a long time to recover, allowing me to get several quick hits in. At this rate the fight should pose no challenge at all, even if it takes a while to kill the knight. Nothing in this place can be so easy though, as I'm quickly reminded. The knight points its sword straight up into the air. The sword begins to emanate a bright light that lights up the murky forest around us. Before I can even begin to back away the light explodes into a blinding flash, enveloping my body in a warm embrace. I can feel the light pulse through my body, seeping into my every pore. An overwhelming sense of tranquility envelops my mind, causing my whole body to feel like its sinking into the ground. My clothes begin to feel heavy on my body, as if my leather armor has turned into chainmail. I try to shake the feeling out of my head as my eyes recover from the light. The knight is already preparing to do another attack and I try to take a step backwards, but it feels like my boots are made of lead. I barely manage to lift my leg as the giant's spell courses through my body. Unable to dodge, I'm forced to find another way to deal with the knight's attacks. It swings its sword at my head, but the blow is high enough for me to simply duck underneath it. I clumsily take a step forward and swing my sword at the knight's head. Thankfully the spell seems to have little effect on my arms, as my slashes are as quick as ever. The knight responds by lifting its shield up and turning its shoulder, knocking into mine with a painful thud. The blow knocks me off balance, but I manage to keep myself from falling by going down on one knee. The knight rears up its sword for another downward slash. As its weapon comes down I fall to the side, causing its sword to once again crash into the ground mere inches away from my legs. I turn onto my back and hack away at its legs while it recovers, while not bothering to get up myself. I notice the effects of its spell begin to dissipate as my legs begin to feel lighter. The knight raises his foot up into the air, preparing to stomp it down onto my chest. Though the effects of the spell aren't completely gone yet, I manage to roll to the side as the giant's foot comes crashing down next to me. The damage I did to its leg is apparent, as it loses its balance and almost ends up on top of me. I get up as quickly as I can with the spell still faintly lingering in my body. I pull back my sword and release a powerful swing that sunders the sentinel's head. The earth shakes as the knight's body topples onto the ground.

After exploring the rest of the forest for a while I finally spot something promising. I had managed to avoid two other sentinel knights that I had noticed before getting too close to them. I wasn't so lucky with the third, although I managed to defeat it before it could cast the same spell on me as the one before. Now I'm at the very edge of this part of the forest, standing inside the ruins of a small building. The walls of the building are mostly intact and to my right is a staircase that leads up to what appears to be a part of a bridge. At the end of the staircase, however, the exit is covered with grey fog. Though I'm curious as to where it leads, I ignore it for now, instead focusing on a small tree in the other corner of the room. I smile as I recognize the fur-covered acorns hanging from its branches and walk up to the tree. I eagerly begin plucking the acorns from its branches and stuff them into my satchel. Though the tree appears to be young, only coming up to my waist in height, I still manage to harvest about a dozen acorns from its branches. Satisfied with my bounty, I look up at the fog wall once more. Filled with adrenaline from finding the vermifuges I've come this far for, I consider going through the fog to see what's one the other side. A part of me has become so accustomed to fighting that I sometimes yearn for it. It's almost as if I've become addicted to the rush of facing a worthy opponent in battle. However, I came here to help the Fair Lady. Though I'm still not completely sure why, I feel obligated to help her. I have a great deal of respect for her selfless actions that have lead to her suffering. Even if I can't cure her blight, I at least want to ease some of her pain. I swing my bulging satchel over my shoulder, turn towards the door and begin to make my way back to Firelink Shrine.


	8. Chapter 8

The rickety wooden platform under my feet creaks loudly as it slowly descends to the bottom of Blighttown. I had discovered that the makeshift wooden elevator led to a shortcut to Firelink Shrine, making the trip to and from Blighttown significantly easier. I jump off of the platform as soon as it gets close enough the ground. To my right I can see the entrance to Quelaag's domain in the distance. I begin to make my way towards it, keeping my hand close to my satchel as I slog through the swamp. As soon as I begin to feel the effects of the squalid water's poison I take a moss clump out of my satchel and bring it up to my face. I squeeze the moss in one hand and it releases a small amount of dull-green liquid onto my wrist. I lap up the liquid, its bitter taste making my face contort. The effects of the moss are astonishingly quick, almost instantly flushing the poison out of my blood. I quicken my pace, not wanting the poison to build up all over again. As I near the edge of the water I spot something familiar out of the corner of my eye. Quelana once again sits at the same spot she was before. She removes her hood as I turn and walk towards her.

"I'm glad to see you're still alive, stranger," she says.

I shake my boots as I step onto the little island at the foot of the pillar.

"Your sister didn't make it easy for me," I say.

"Did you…kill her?" she asks as if she thinks she already knows the answer.

I sit down in front of her, crossing my legs and folding my hands on my lap.

"Both of your sisters are still alive," I say.

Quelana seems visibly surprised, though a look of relief also appears on her face.

"Quelaag attacked me as soon as I entered her domain," I continue. "She is a good fighter; nearly killed me, but I was able to defeat her eventually."

"But you did not kill her?" she asks.

"No," I say. "I disarmed and incapacitated her. She let me pass through to ring the bell, albeit with reluctance. Then I found your other sister, though she was much more hospitable."

"That doesn't surprise me," she says as a warm smile spreads across her face. "She's always been too kind for her own good."

Quelana stares at the ground in front of her, looking to be deep in her own thoughts.

"She is," I say softly and Quelana looks up at me, as if she can hear the gloom in my voice.

"She made a big sacrifice to help the people of Blighttown," I continue. "She cured them of their illness, but afflicted herself in the process."

Quelana looks down at the ground in front of her again.

"I'm doing what I can to help her," I say.

Quelana does not say anything, only giving an appreciative nod.

After sitting with Quelana for a few more minutes I decide to move on again. She is still visibly emotional and I'm sure she would rather be left alone. I let out a winded grunt as I get up, my body reminding me of the wounds I've accumulated over the past few days.

"I think I'll be off then," I say as I shake the dust from my trousers.

Quelana once again only nods at what I say, still appearing to be in her own world. I turn towards the mound at the edge of the swamp.

"Thank you, stranger," Quelana says just as I prepare to step into the swamp once more.

I pause for a moment, then I slowly lower my foot into the cold water of the swamp. I make my way to the entrance of Quelaag's domain, once again passing by the creatures carrying the Fair Lady's eggs. A fog door once again covers the opening at the end of the path, which I pass through. I see Quelaag sitting at the other end of the room, in front of the ruins that lead to her sister. I keep my sword sheathed as I make my way towards her, though I remain vigilant. She rises to her feet as soon as she sees me, holding her fiery sword in her right hand. She slowly walks towards me, her spider feet clattering on the floor. We stop a few feet in front of each other in the center of the room, out of blade's reach.

"Why are you doing this?" she asks coldly. "My sister does not need your help."

"She does," I say. "You may not have any empathy towards those you don't know, but I do."

"She does not need your empathy," she sneers. "She has me, and that is all she needs."

The spider head underneath her lets out a guttural growl, clearly becoming agitated.

"She needs medicine," I say calmly. "Medicine that you cannot find in the swamp."

"She needs humanity!" Quelaag says and her sword flares up. "It's the only thing that eases her pain."

"The only thing you know of," I adamantly say.

"And how do you know that your medicine is going to work?" she asks.

Her tone is becoming less agitated.

"I don't," I say. "But it's worth trying."

"What if it doesn't?" she asks, slightly lowering her sword. "What will you do then?"

"Then I will try something else, and something else after that," I say.

She suddenly looks away from me. I keep my gaze on Quelaag's face as she pretends to survey the room around her.

"Why are you doing this?" she echoes. "What do you seek from my sister?"

I notice a brief flush of redness in her cheeks as she says this.

"I don't expect anything from your sister," I say firmly. "I simply want to do what I can to help her. I won't be able to live with myself if I do nothing."

She stops scanning the room and looks me in the eyes once more.

"Very well," she says after a pause. "I will not stop you, but that does not mean that I trust you. I will keep my eyes on you. If you do anything to endanger my sister, I will end you."

She moves to the side, opening my passage to the ruins, then bends down to embed her sword into the ground in front of her. Her hair falls away from her chest as she does this. I jolt my head towards the ruins to stop myself from staring and briskly begin to walk to the entrance.

The Fair Lady offers a friendly greeting as I sit down in front of her bonfire. Eingyi excitedly crawls up next to me, keenly observing as I empty the contents of my satchel onto the ground. I also empty my pockets, which I also stuffed full of moss once my satchel became too full. Eingyi has already prepared a clean pot for me next to the fire. I slide the pot as close to the bonfire as possible. The dull fire slowly begins to heat up the pot. As I peer inside the pot I can see the healing light from the fire swirling and dancing inside it. Eingyi has already started to neatly stack the moss and acorns from my satchel onto two piles. He slides a crude stone bowl with a rock inside towards my feet. The bowl is nothing more than a hollowed-out piece of rock, but it will suffice as a mortar. I place one of the egg vermifuges in the bowl and begin to crush it with the rock. The soft nut crumbles apart relatively easily, quickly turning into an oily paste. Eingyi hands me the rest of the vermifuges one by one. Once all of the acorns are crushed I set aside the bowl and turn my attention towards the moss. I take a piece of moss and hold it over the pot, then squeeze it until I'm satisfied that all of its liquid is inside the pot. I do the same with the rest of the moss on the pile. Though each piece only yields a miniscule amount; together they yield more than a cup-full of fluid. The bitter smell of the moss stings my eyes as the green liquid simmers in the pot. Eingyi hands me the bowl of acorn paste and I scrape its contents into the pot with my dagger. The sharp smell of the vermifuge mixes with that of the moss to create a truly appalling scent. I pull my undershirt over my nose as I slowly mix together the ingredients through watery eyes. After a few minutes of stirring the mix turns into a smooth brown sludge with a green tinge. I pull the pot away from the heat of the fire.

"That smells awful," the Fair Lady suddenly says.

I look up to see her wrinkle her nose at the smell, which has by now filled the entire room. Out of the corner of my eye I see Quelaag standing in the entrance of the room, smiling at her sister's reaction to the stench.

After allowing the mixture to cool for a while I strain it with a piece of clean cloth into a dull glass bottle. The elixir's sharp aroma wafts through the air as I take the bottle to the Fair Lady.

"You will have to take a sip of this, my Lady," I say as I gently take her arm and place the bottle in her hands.

She brings the bottle up to her face, but immediately recoils at the smell.

"How much of it do I have to drink?" she asks dismally.

"Just a small sip," I say.

I don't truly know how much of the medicine she should take, but I would rather she didn't take too much at a time. She hesitantly brings the bottle to her lips and takes a sip of the liquid. Her face contorts in disgust; she nearly loses her grip on the bottle, but she manages to force the medicine down. I take the bottle from her hands and place a makeshift stopper over its opening.

"Now we only have to do the same thing again every day until its finished," I say.

The Fair Lady bows her head in dismay, letting out a whining groan. Quelaag and I both chuckle at her response.


	9. Chapter 9

I take a minute to adjust my eyes to the light as I wake up. The light of the bonfire seems more intense than usual, though it could just be my imagination. I sit up as I wipe the sleep from my eyes before scanning the room around me. Eingyi's bedding lies at the end of the short hallway, a dead end, opposite the entrance. I assume he is out running an errand, as I do not see him in the room. Quelaag and the Fair Lady are quietly chatting on the other side of the bonfire. I had prepared a makeshift bed for myself next to the bonfire across from the fair lady, using pieces of cloth I had found before. I get up and shake the raggedy blankets off of myself.

"Good morning, stranger," the Fair Lady says softly.

"Good morning," I say. "Are you feeling better today?"

"I think so," she says. "Though I still am in a great deal of pain, it does feel as though my body has a little more vigor than usual."

"That is good," I say through a yawn. "We will give you some more of the elixir today. I'm sure it will bring you back to good health in no time at all."

I notice Quelaag looking at me from top to bottom with a judgmental gaze. I look down at myself and realize that I look like a mess. With what has happened the past few days I haven't gotten any time to wash myself. My clothes are stained and reek of swamp and sweat and blood.

"There are jugs of clean water that the servants brought in the other room," Quelaag says while pointing a finger upwards. "You may use some of it, if you wish."

Though her tone is still cold, I'm surprised at her sudden hospitality.

"Thank you," I say as I fold up my bedding and toss it against the wall.

Quelaag ignores my thanks and continues her talk with her sister. I walk past her and up the spiraling stairs, then into the large room where several jugs of varying sizes are packed at the bottom of the stairs. As I walk down to where the jugs are I notice a dark stain on the floor. This is likely where Quelaag bathes. There is no visible drainage system, though the dark stain on the floor indicates that Quelaag probably simply evaporates the water with her pyromancy.

After thoroughly washing myself for the first time in days I return to the Fair Lady and Quelaag. Quelaag leaves the room as soon as I enter, presumably to go bathe as well. I spend a few minutes talking to the Fair Lady before Quelaag returns with a jug of water and unceremoniously chases me out of the room. While Quelaag is bathing her sister, I decide to go look for more humanity. Despite having just washed myself, I once again trudge through the swamp and make my way to Firelink Shrine. I spend the day exploring the surrounding areas in search of humanity. I do not find much, apparently having depleted the supply of these areas the first time I passed through them. Once the sun begins to set, I make my way back to the Fair Lady to give her the little humanity I was able to collect. I do the same thing over the next three days, exploring more of Darkroot Garden, as well as the treacherous Sen's Fortress. Inside Sen's Fortress I speak to a man who calls himself Black Iron Tarkus. He tells me that I need to defeat the guardian of the fortress, a huge iron golem, in order to move on to Anor Londo. Although the warrior at Firelink Shrine assured me that it is the next step I need to take on my journey, my priorities lie with the Fair Lady. Every day I give her a dose of the elixir I brewed and every day I can see her becoming marginally better.

On the fifth day of the Fair lady's treatment I once again notice that the bonfire's light has become slightly brighter. The Fair Lady is also visibly getting better. Her spider-legs have begun to move and twitch. Her skin is becoming brighter and her hands are becoming less cold. She is talking to Quelaag now, as they do every morning. I watch them as they speak. The Fair Lady speaks with more fervor than usual, telling Quelaag about a dream she had last night. From what I can make out, it was her first peaceful dream in a very long time. Quelaag listens to her story intently, smiling like I've never seen her smile before. I quietly get up from my bed, not wanting to interrupt the Fair Lady's story. I step out into the large room where I had met Quelaag for the first time. Fresh jugs of water once again stand at the bottom of the stairs. I shed my clothes and wash myself with the cold water. As I dry off and redress, I notice Quelaag standing in the entrance at the top of the stairs. I don't know how long she has been standing there, but she clearly has no consideration for my privacy.

"Did you enjoy the show?" I ask her as she makes her way down the stairs.

"I think I now know why you carry such a large sword," she taunts.

She places her sword on the ground behind her and walks up to the jugs.

"The water was cold," I awkwardly say.

She ignores my words, picks up one of the jugs and dumps it over her head. Although she clearly has no sense of modestly, I still turn around while she bathes herself.

"My sister is getting better," she says.

"She is," I say. "At this rate she should be completely cured within a week or two."

"I hope you are right," she says.

The sound of falling water creates a strange ambience in this even stranger moment as I sit down at the foot of the stairs.

"You are the first person to help my sister so willingly," she says after a while. "Even Eingyi only serves her so passionately because of what she did for him."

"He serves her well, nonetheless," I say. "You also help her a great deal. She is very grateful to both of you."

"She is my sister," she says. "It's only natural for me to take care of her. I would not do the same for anyone else. Even less so for a complete stranger."

The sound of water falling on the floor stops and I hear her dry herself off.

"Normally I wouldn't either," I say as I stand up.

I turn around to see her conjure a small flame in her hand, looking at the pool of water where she was standing before. She allows the flame to grow in size, then hurls it at the water. A plume of steam hisses into the air as the flame hits the floor. The flames linger on the floor for a while, lapping up the water and spraying jets of steam into the air, then leaves the floor bone-dry as they die down.

"Nice trick," I say as I begin to walk past her.

She suddenly shakes her spider-body violently from side to side, spraying water all around her. I'm left soaked in water that smells like a wet dog. She snickers at me as we make our way back to her sister.

The next morning I'm woken by Eingyi enthusiastically tugging at my shoulders.

"Wake up, stranger!" he exclaims.

Despite the fact that I moved my bed further away from the bonfire, its light still pierces my eyes as I slowly open them. I groggily get up, holding on to the wall to support myself. I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and, to my surprise, Eingyi is standing before me. Although he is still hunched over, he is supporting himself on his feet. The eggs that were on his back are also missing.

"The Lady," he says, out of breath. "She has stopped laying eggs."

I look over to the Fair Lady, whom is once again happily chatting with Quelaag. Her face is almost glowing and her spider-legs are all twitching and moving in unison.

"She has not laid any eggs in the past three days," he says.

"You got rid of the ones you were carrying as well," I say.

"Yes," he says. "Mistress Quelaag commanded me to get rid of them. She thinks they might upset the Fair Lady."

"That's wonderful news," I say as I place a hand on his shoulder.

Eingyi vigorously nods his head in agreement. He looks over at the Fair Lady.

"Now that I can walk again, I will be able to go out and collect humanity for her," he says.

"No," I say, lightly squeezing his shoulder.

He looks back at me with wide eyes.

"I don't want you to endanger yourself," I continue. "The Fair Lady needs you here, tending to her. Besides, I do not think she will be needing humanity much longer."


	10. Chapter 10

The reflections of flames dance across the sleek blade of my sword. I wipe the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve, whilst keeping my sword raised in my other hand. Quelaag readies her own sword for another strike as her spider-body slowly turns back towards me. She slashes her sword at me, but I dodge underneath the blow and land in front of her. She lets out an annoyed grunt and swiftly swings her sword back at me. This time I swing my sword upwards towards hers, deflecting the blow and sending a shuddering jolt through my arms. I follow up with a stab towards her chest, but she quickly extends her spider-legs to pull her whole body backwards. She almost instantly flings her body forward and her spider-head launches towards me with its maw open. I twist to the side to avoid the spider's mouth, but its head still crashes into me. I'm nearly knocked off my feet and quickly dodge backwards to avoid Quelaag's follow-up blow. Another annoyed grunt escapes from her mouth, though a crack in her voice reveals that she's becoming winded. I take a few steps back to give myself a moment to breathe while she slowly turns towards me again.

"It looks like you are getting tired," I say though my own wheezing breath.

"Look who's talking," she pants.

Her spider-body rears up underneath her and she leaps into the air towards me. Anticipating this, I quickly dodge forward and end up right behind her as she crashes into the ground. I turn around and grab onto the bristly hairs of the spider's abdomen. I pull myself up onto the giant spider's body and jump up right behind Quelaag's back. I bring the blade of my sword down against her neck, careful not to cut into her ivory skin. Both of us remain motionless for a while, save for the simultaneous heaving of our out of breath bodies.

"Very well," Quelaag says as I jump down from her spider-back. "You win this one."

We walk back to the ruins at the far side of the room. Using a sharp rock, I scratch a small notch into the wall.

"That's four wins for me," I say proudly. "I'm in the lead again."

Quelaag doesn't say anything. She looks intently at the other side of the room, where her fog gate bars the entrance.

A figure appears through the fog gate at the entrance to Quelaag's domain. Clad in full plate armor, he slings a hefty mace over his shoulder. He carries a large shield on his back, which he equips as soon as he sees us. Quelaag's sword lights up and she begins to move towards him, but I notion for her to stop.

"I will handle him," I say.

She looks at me defiantly, but I meet her gaze firmly. She reluctantly takes a step back and I make my way towards the center of the room to meet the warrior.

"I'm looking for a bell," he says without so much as a greeting.

I do not unsheathe my sword as I come to a standstill a dozen paces in front of him, though doesn't stop walking.

"There's no bell here," I say. "It would be wise to turn around and return to where you came from."

He veers to my right to pass me, but I step out in front of him. He stops and looks at me from top to bottom, then up at the ruins behind me.

"What's on the other side of that building?" he asks.

"Nothing that concerns you," Quelaag says.

He looks over at her and rears his head back.

"What did you say?" he snaps. "I do not speak your tongue, foul beast!"

A rush of anger overwhelms me. I grab him by the throat, reaching between his helmet and chest-piece. He lets out a choking growl and bashes me in my chest with his shield. The bulky man is a head taller than me and even stronger than he looks. The knock sends me toppling to the ground, but in the same motion I roll backwards and leap onto my feet. I draw my sword as he heaves his mace off of his shoulder and points it at me. Quelaag takes a step forward, but I shoot her a quick look of reassurance. She stands still, keeping her sword ready.

The warrior charges at me with his mace held high. He brings it down at my head in a deceptively quick arc. I duck underneath the blow and swing my sword at his stomach in the same motion, but my blow bounces off his shield. He quickly follows up with a backhand blow with his mace. I dodge to his left, narrowly avoiding the impossibly fast swing. He uses the momentum from his swing to swiftly turn towards me, immediately bringing his shield up to stunt any follow up from me. He takes a step forward and swings his shield at me. I sidestep his shield only to find a follow up from his mace, this time much lower, speeding towards me. He aims the mace at my upper legs. I jump up to into the air to avoid the blow. I turn my body mid-air and kick both feet into his chest. He stumbles backwards and I immediately rush towards him after landing on my feet. I swing my sword at his head, but he swiftly recovers and pushes his shield up at my blade. He follows up with a kick of his own as his left leg comes swinging at mine. I jump to the side to avoid the kick and swing my sword at his arm as he tries to follow up with a swing from his mace. My blade slides into the joint where his elbow is, but meets a layer of chain-mail. He recoils at the blow, allowing me to follow up with another blow at his head. The blow glances off of his steel helmet. He lets out an angry shout and flails his mace back at me. I easily dodge the blow and capitalize on the opening he leaves. I slash my sword right under his helmet. My blade slides neatly into the gap between his helmet and chest-piece, slicing through his throat with ease. A streak of crimson splatters across the floor. The warrior's weapons clatter onto the ground as he grabs his throat, futilely trying to stop the bleeding. He chokes and coughs as he falls forward onto the ground. I press the point of my sword on the back of his exposed neck, then push the blade through the center. His body tenses up as I sever his spinal cord, then relaxes once I pull my sword out. A dull white light forms at the center of his back and I kneel down to pick up the humanity. I turn around to see Quelaag already walking back to the ruins.

The Fair Lady happily accepts the humanity I give her. Although she is already much better, she is still in some pain and the humanity dulls it to the point where it's almost nonexistent. It's been almost two weeks since she started taking the elixir and by now she regularly moves her legs.

"How did your sparring match go?" she softly asks.

Quelaag and I give each other a serious look, then shake our heads in agreement. It would be best not to tell the Fair Lady about the warrior.

"Same as always," I say. "It was a close match."

"Oh. I do wish you two would stop having those matches," she says. "I am always so fearful that one of you will get injured."

Quelaag smiles at the Fair Lady, then turns toward the door.

"You need not worry, sister," Quelaag says as she exits the room.

I sit down in front of the Fair Lady and take out the elixir from my pouch. There is not much left in the bottle.

"Your medicine is almost finished," I tell her. "I will have to make another batch sometime."

I look up to see her smiling down at me. Even though she is blind and most likely will remain so for the rest of her life, it stills appears as though she is looking right at me.

"Thank you," she says. "Your kindness has meant the world to me."

Though her face is still quite pallid, it is as if it's glowing.

"My sister is also grateful, even if she does not show it," she says.

I remove the stopper from the bottle as I get up and walk to the Fair Lady. I place the bottle in her hands; she takes a small sip before handing it back to me. Her face contorts in disgust.

"I don't think I will ever get used to that taste," she wheezes.

I can't help but chuckle as I put the stopper back on the bottle and return it to my pouch. The Fair Lady also begins to laugh, causing her spider-legs to twitch with more fervor, almost as if they were dancing.


	11. Chapter 11

The pungent odor of the swamp lazily drifts around my face as I look over the murky water. I was hoping to find Quelana here, but I don't see her anywhere.

"We will sweep the right side of the swamp, all the way to the back," Quelaag says as she walks up behind me.

"What exactly are we hunting?" I ask.

"Many people foolishly wander into the swamp," she says. "They get poisoned by the fowl water and end up weak and dying."

"I'm sure there are a few who fall from the scaffolding as well," I say as I look up at the rickety wood structure, recalling my first journey into Blighttown.

"Yes," she continues. "Many of them have humanity, which I used to harvest for my sister. Since she has gotten better she no longer needs any."

She scans over the waters of the swamp as I did, although looking for something different.

"Isn't that just scavenging?" I ask.

"No," she says, half-annoyed. "I also kill whatever living thing I happen to come across."

The ardor in her voice surprises me more than it should.

"I miss those hunting trips," she says. "That is why I asked you to join me for one."

She does not look at me as she says this and I can see a hint of redness spring up in her cheeks. She suddenly shakes her head and bends her legs to lower her spider-body to the ground.

"Get on," she says as she parts her two middle legs and motions at her back.

I gently climb onto Quelaag's spider-back, careful not to pull on the bristly hairs on her abdomen, and sit down behind her humanoid torso. Quelaag's spider legs are unaffected by the poison of the swamp and she insisted that I would slow her down if I tried to tread through the water on foot. She gets up as soon as she feels me settle down and walks into the water without saying a word.

Quelaag begins at the right edge of the swamp and makes her way all along the wall. The first living thing we come across is no more than a giant leech, which she easily dispatches. We find many more as we move along the wall, though they do not pose a challenge, even when large in number. Quelaag is clearly frustrated when we reach the farthest corner of the swamp without having come across anything of note.

"It's as if the swamp has run dry," she finally says. "There is no more sport to be had here."

"Have you ever hunted outside the swamp?" I ask.

"No," she says with a hint of bitterness in her voice. "There is no way for me to leave the swamp. I have seen others, such as yourself, enter the swamp from that strange contraption near the bonfire."

She points towards the other end of the swamp as she says this.'

"But I do not trust that thing to hold my weight," she says.

She begins to walk towards the opposite wall, her legs sloshing through the muddy water of the swamp.

"Besides, I cannot go too far away from my sister," she says.

"Your sister will eventually be back to full health," I say with a hint of doubt in my voice.

It has been nearly three weeks since the Fair Lady had started taking the elixir, but the past few days have not seen her making much progress. She has remained ever hopeful, though the rest of us have become worried that the elixir might not fully cure her. Instead, I have begun to think that it only suppresses the symptoms of her illness and that she will have to use the medicine every day for the rest of her life.

"Her progress is slowing," Quelaag says as if she can read my thoughts.

"I know," I say after a pause. "But the illness severely weakened her body. We must be patient and give her enough time to fully recover."

I say that as reassurance for myself as much as for Quelaag. We reach the other corner of the swamp and Quelaag turns to her left. We continue along the wall in silence.

By the time we reach the wooden elevator along the wall, we still haven't found anything worthwhile. Quelaag stops to look up at the ever-moving contraption.

"Perhaps I could modify it somehow," I say.

Quelaag turns her head towards me.

"Once your sister has recovered I could make a separate lift," I continue. "One that uses the same mechanism. I could build a stronger platform that could hold your weight."

"Even if she recovers, I still cannot simply leave her here," she says.

"She can come with us," I say as Quelaag begins to walk back towards the entrance of her lair. "The elevator leads to a place called Firelink Shrine. She will be safe there while we are out hunting."

As I say that, I realize that, once the Fair Lady has healed, Quelaag will have no more reason to keep me around. Although I feel as though Quelaag and I have begun to develop a bond over these past few days, she still cares for her sister more than anything else. I will be glad to see the Fair Lady cured of her illness. It is what I've gone through all of this trouble for, after all.

"That is, if you would allow me to stay with you," I say, surprising myself.

Quelaag stops for a moment, turns her head towards me, then back to the front as she walks onto the mound at the edge of the swamp. I jump down from her back as soon as she leaves the water. We walk silently through the hole in the mound and Quelaag comes to a standstill in the middle of the hallway.

"I would like that," she says without looking at me.

The entrance to her domain is free of a fog gate, since she is not inside. She walks through the opening and I follow behind her. She comes to a sudden halt again, but this time does not say anything. I walk up to her side to see her holding her hand to her mouth, tears beginning to form in her eyes. I turn my head to where she is looking. The Fair Lady stands in the center of the huge room. Eingyi is standing next to her, holding her hand to provide support. She looks up in the direction we are standing and flashes an elated smile, sensing our presence, as she takes a shaky step forward.


	12. Chapter 12

As I proudly stand before my handiwork, I can feel a scowl burning into the back of my head. Although I'm quite visibly impressed by the contraption I mere moments ago had finished building, Quelaag looks less enthusiastic. The main component of the contraption is a wooden platform, just large enough for Quelaag to stand on. It's bordered by a wooden railing on all sides. The side closest to us is connected to corner posts with openable hinges, allowing it to serve as a gate. From each corner a sturdy wooden pole rises up diagonally to meet at a central point above the platform. Where they meet, a thick rope is tied around them which raises straight up towards the ceiling dozens of feet above. Out of sight in Blighttown's dim light, the rope is connected to a simple pulley system attached to the ceiling. From there it goes down to a counterweight which, when released, will slowly raise the platform, as long as Quelaag or someone of similar weight stands on it. A guide rope attached to the wall will ensure that the platform does not sway too much. The whole contraption took several weeks to build, even with the help of some friends I had met on my more recent travels. One such friend, a rather jovial knight, clad in very eccentric onion-shaped armor, helped me devise the pulley system at the heart of the elevator. Quelaag has remained skeptical during the entire process, making her reluctance to eventually use the elevator rather vocal, despite my constant reassurance. I had used only the best wood and rope I could find to build it, not the rotting junk that makes up Blighttown's precarious scaffolding.

After nearly an hour of arguing, and despite demonstrating my confidence in my homemade elevator by loading it with rocks and climbing onto it myself, Quelaag still refused to use it. For the first time since our first fight I truly lost my temper with her. Understandably so, since I had spent several hundred hours over the past few weeks working on the lift. Thankfully the Fair Lady intervened before things got too heated and lead her sister back into their home. Over the past several weeks, when I wasn't working on Quelaag's lift, I had done as much as I could to aid the Fair Lady in regaining her strength. Eingyi and I ensured that she practiced walking every day, until she completely regained strength in her legs. Despite the blight being expunged from her body, her muscles were still very frail and weak from remaining stationary for such a long time. It was a painful and tedious process, but the Fair Lady showed great perseverance and powered through it all. Once she was able to walk relatively long distances, Quelaag began taking her out into the swamp to practice pyromancies. Although the Fair Lady is usually rather passive, she understands the need to be able to defend herself. Despite her gentle demeanor, she is a talented pyromancer, much more so than Quelaag. As I reminisce on her recovery, I realize that I have started to wander into the swamp. Having become tired of constantly being poisoned by the toxic water of the swamp, I had fashioned myself a waterproof overall to keep the sludge away from my skin. I had also found a strange ring which, when worn, allows me to traverse the swamp nearly unhindered. As I walk through the swamp, away from Blighttown, I see a familiar figure in the distance. It is Quelana, and I can immediately see that she is in trouble.

As I rush over to Quelana, splashing swamp water as far as I go, I realize that she is under attack from several of the huge leaches that inhabit the swamp. About a dozen leaches, each about half the size of a human, surround Quelana. Two of them have grabbed onto each of her arms, blood dripping over them and onto the leeches at her feet. One of the leeches in front of her rises itself up, balancing on the base of its tail. Just as it's about to pounce on her, I unsheathe my sword and slice the disgusting creature in half with one swift motion. Blood and gunk splatters all over Quelana and I, but I ignore it and immediately drive my sword into the next leech. One by one I cut the creatures down, coloring the swamp red in a circle around us. Once a path is cleared to Quelana I jab my sword into one of the leeches on her arms, careful not to cut her in the process. The creature rears back as my sword slides through its lower body and it loosens its grip on her arm. I bring my sword downwards, splitting the leech's tail in half. I grab each half of its wriggling tail and pull the creature off of her arm. As I throw the leech into the water, I can see that her arm is badly lacerated and she is rapidly losing blood. I repeat the process for the leech on her other arm, making sure that its grip is loosened before I pull it off of her. Before I can ask her if she is okay, her eyes roll over into the back of her head and she falls backwards. I manage to grab her before she falls into the swamp water. I gently pick her up into my arms and begin running back towards Quelaag and the Fair Lady as quickly as I can without splashing her full of swamp water.

As I reach the entrance to Quelaag and the Fair Lady's home, I increase my pace to a sprint. I dart past the two spider-women and down the stairs in the bell tower. I lay her down next to the bonfire, its healing heat caressing her crimson arms. I begin to remove my leather armor to get to my undershirt to use as a tourniquet. I jump as the Fair Lady places a hand on my shoulder. She had come up behind me with surprising speed. Giving me a look of reassurance, she gently pushes me aside and kneels down before her sister. Quelaag comes up behind her and hands her a jug of water. She takes Quelana's arm in her hands and gently washes it with some of the water from the jug. Then, to my surprise, she produces a tiny flame from the tip of one of her fingers and runs it down the length of one of the gashes in Quelana's arm. The flame burns into Quelana's skin, permeating the air with the smell of burning flesh. Once she is done with the gash she gently blows on the wound, then moves on to the next one. One by one she cauterizes all of the wounds on Quelana's arms, sealing them and stopping the bleeding. I pull my bedding closer to the bonfire and the Fair Lady places Quelana down on the blankets.

"She has lost a lot of blood," Quelaag says, finally breaking a long silence.

"She is still breathing," the Fair Lady says. "Now she must rest. The bonfire will slowly heal her."

"What happened to her?" Quelaag asks.

"I found her in the middle of the swamp, surrounded by at least a dozen giant leeches," I say. "They had already grabbed onto her by the time I got there. I killed them and rushed over here as quickly as I could."

"Thank you," the Fair Lady says and I notice that tears have begun to stream down her cheeks.

As I wake up, I can feel my body rhythmically bobbing up and down. It takes me a moment to remember where I am. I slowly begin to sit up, trying not to disturb Quelaag, but the rhythmical breathing of her spider body combined with my grogginess from having just woken up makes it difficult. Eventually I manage to sit up straight and looking over at Quelaag's humanoid back reveals she is still sleeping soundly. From the corner of my eye I catch the Fair Lady looking at us, but she immediately pretends to be asleep, though I can just make out a sly smile appear on her face. Quelaag had offered that I could sleep on her back, since I gave up my bedding to Quelana. Although I was still upset about the elevator, I couldn't bring myself to turn her down. After a while Quelaag wakes up and I can finally jump off of her back without disturbing her. I go about my regular morning routine, then return to check up on Quelana. She is still sleeping soundly. The bonfire is clearly doing its work to heal her, because the scars on her arms have already begun to fade. She will likely be out cold for another day or so. I'm sure her sisters will be elated to speak to her once she is awake. While the Fair Lady vigilantly watches over Quelana, I decide to go inspect my lift-contraption. I meet Eingyi along the way, and he agrees to help me put the contraption through a few more tests. As we enter the swamp, I see Quelaag standing in front of the elevator, staring up at the platform it leads to.

"You'd think a spider wouldn't be so concerned with heights!" I say as we approach her.

She gives me an annoyed look, but turns back towards the lift without saying a word.

"Start climbing to the top while I begin to load the platform," I tell Eingyi.

He nods and begins to ascend the scaffolding.

"I'm going to test it a bit more," I say as I begin to walk past Quelaag.

She throws a spider-claw in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.

"I'll get on it," she says.

"I thought you were too scared?" I say half mockingly.

She gives me another annoyed look, then her expression changes to one of sadness.

"I am scared!" she says. "I'm scared of falling to my death. I'm scared of leaving my sister…sisters behind. I'm scared of whatever is out there."

Her spider-leg begins to shake.

"I'm scared of all of those things…" she says and looks at me. "But I trust you."

I can see that it's taking a lot of willpower for her to do this. I put a reassuring hand on her leg. I walk over to the platform and open the gate at its front. Quelaag slowly steps on and I jump onto it as well. I close the gate behind us, making sure that it's secured, then I walk up in front of Quelaag and hold out my hands. She bends down and gives me hers.

"Just focus on me," I say. "Look into my eyes and don't think about anything."

Quelaag nods and I signal for Eingyi to release the counterweight. The platform jolts and Quelaag flinches, but it smooths out almost immediately. I squeeze her hands gently as the platform slowly begins to move upwards and away from Blighttown.


	13. Chapter 13

I once again find a scowl burning into the back of my head as I step out of the musty cave and into the light. I walk up to the bridge spanning over the narrow gorge in front of me. I had replaced the shoddy excuse for a bridge that had previously spanned the gap with a much broader, much more stable one. I even made it to be at least twice as broad as Quelaag's body, so she would not have to peer over its edges whilst crossing it. As I turn to face her, I see that familiar look of apprehension on her face.

"It's quite safe," I say. "I built it myself."

That seems to reassure her, as she slowly begins walking into the sunlight. She holds her hand up to shield her face from the sun and I immediately feel like an idiot for not preparing something to keep the sun out of her eyes. Having lived in Blighttown for so long, her eyes aren't used to this kind of light. I pull the hood from my head as I rush over to her. She reluctantly takes it from my hand and puts it on. I keep my hand outstretched. She gives me hers and we slowly begin to cross the bridge together. Once on the other side we turn left and begin heading towards an elevator embedded into the side of the gorge. Together with the bridge, I had also built a platform to extend the girth of the ledge that leads to the elevator. Much of my time in the past few weeks was spent building the elevator in Blighttown, but whenever I felt like I needed to escape from the musty air, I came up here to prepare the rest of the way for Quelaag. All the way to Firelink Shrine I had built platforms, breaking open doorways and doing whatever else was necessary to make the journey possible for her.

After a bit of struggling and a lot of complaining, Quelaag and I finally arrive in Firelink Shrine. She wasn't pleased with how she had to squeeze into the two elevators that lead to Firelink Shrine. The elevators, which were made from stone and pulled by chains, were too small for Quelaag to normally fit into. I had done some tests, though, and realized that she would be able to stand on her hind legs and hold on to the walls with her front legs for support. This way, she could stand nearly upright and the elevators moved slowly enough that she could simply move her front legs along the wall as they went up.

"Here we are," I say as we climb the last set of stairs leading to the bonfire.

Quelaag lets out a nearly inaudible gasp as she looks around the Shrine. I look up to see a broad smile on her face as she takes in the open air and calmness of Firelink Shrine. I chuckle to myself as I realize just how silly she looks wearing nothing but a hood. I also realize that I haven't let go of her hand this entire time. Neither has she asked me to. A strange feeling begins to well up in my chest and, for a moment, I completely forget where I am and what I'm doing. I shake my head.

"Have a look around," I say as I let go of her hand.

I leave her to explore on her own as I sit down next to the bonfire in the center of the Shrine. Although the bonfire is dead, it still offers some residual form of comfort, as it did when the Firekeeper was alive. I suspect I know who is responsible for her death, but I will leave tracking him down for another day. As I begin to wonder how I'm going to help Quelaag traverse other parts of Lordran, I'm startled by the sudden sound of an explosion coming from beyond one of the ruined walls in the Shrine. A skull comes flying over the top of the wall, shattering into a hundred pieces as it hits the ground a few feet away from me. She must have found the graveyard…

We hadn't spent much time at Firelink Shrine before Quelaag insisted that we go back to Blighttown. She didn't feel comfortable being so far away from the Fair Lady for so long. She was also admittedly curious about Quelana, asking me how long I knew about her on the way back. By the time we reached the bonfire where we had left Quelaag's sisters, Quelana was already awake.

"Hello, Sister," Quelana says after a long, awkward silence.

Before Quelaag can say anything, the Fair Lady motions me outside. We leave the room to give the sisters some space, taking a walk to the edge of the swamp. The Fair Lady does not enjoy walking around in the swamp like Quelaag does, but she would never admit that to her sister. She and I hadn't gone on many walks like this, I realize. I enjoy the Fair Lady's company, but I find myself spending most of my free time with Quelaag instead.

"I wanted to thank you," the Fair Lady says, finally breaking the silence.

"It was nothing, really," I say. "Anyone would have helped Quelana in that situation."

She gives me one of her signature comforting smiles, one that can instantly lift your mood.

"Not just that," she says. "Though I am truly grateful to you for saving Quelana, I also want to thank you for everything you have done for Quelaag."

A breeze blows through the air, sending the stench of the swamp into our faces. I still haven't gotten used to the smell. By the look on the Fair Lady's face, neither has she.

"The past few weeks have been wonderful for me," she continues. "Although essentially having to learn how to walk again was arduous, it was nothing compared to the pain I had felt whilst ill."

"You are quite resolute," I say. "Stubborn even. A trait you share with your sister."

We chuckle together in agreement.

"While you all were helping me with my recovery, I was worried for Quelaag," she continues in a more serious tone. "She may not show it, but I think she has always been quite lonely. Although she spent a lot of time with me, my company did not count for much."

Despite her tone of voice becoming more somber, she still has that warm smile on her face.

"Even now, back in full form, I cannot give her the companionship that she desires," the Fair Lady continues. "We get along well, but we are still worlds apart. She enjoys hunting, exploring and fighting. I am more of a homebody myself."

"That's where I come in," I say and she nods in agreement.

"She enjoys spending time with you," she says. "I can see it. She can do all the things she enjoys when she is with you. You even spent all that time building that lift so she could explore more of the world with you. I want to thank you for that. Thank you for making my sister happy."

When the Fair Lady and I return to the bonfire we find Quelaag watching over her now-sleeping sister.

"She is doing well," the Fair Lady says as she sits down next to Quelaag.

"She will need a few more days bedrest," Quelaag says.

I do not know what they said to each other, but I can only assume that they have made peace. The Fair Lady had mentioned that she previously invited Quelana to stay with us. She was apprehensive at first, still guilt-ridden, no doubt. However, the Fair Lady is nothing if not persuasive. She assured Quelana that there were no hard feelings and that she and Quelaag only wanted their sister back. She had told the Fair Lady that she would think about it. As if reading my mind, Quelaag speaks again:

"She said she wants to stay with us," she says.


	14. Chapter 14

To say getting Quelaag to the top of Sen's Fortress was a challenge would be an understatement. The huge building looms above the Undead Burg, looking down at its inhabitants with an air of malice. With its narrow ledges and trap-ridden corridors, the building would be nearly impossible for Quelaag to normally traverse. Even I barely made it to the top of the fortress, nearly falling to my death on more than one occasion. After defeating the giant golem at the very top of the building, I came across some flying demon-like creatures. They didn't appear hostile, although they did quite unceremoniously grab me and attempted to fly away with me.

After some coaxing I manage to get the creatures to fly down to Quelaag and bring her to the top of the fortress. It takes even more coaxing to stop her from killing them outright. Although they appear happy to take me wherever I'm apparently supposed to go, they look reluctantly at Quelaag. She is much bigger than me, and the three of them barely managed to lift her all the way up to the roof of the fortress. After a while the demon who appears to be in charge chirps a few things to one of his compatriots, who in turn flies away. It returns after a few minutes, with four more demons behind it. Two of them grab onto me and the remaining five onto Quelaag, then they fly us to Anor Londo. The creatures drop us at the top of a broad flight of stairs. The view of Anor Londo is breathtaking, as the sun throws golden hues across the city's architecture. Rising up through the clouds are enormous buildings adorned with elaborate towers and peaks. As we reach the bottom of the stairs, Quelaag instantly attacks a large sentry standing on guard. She dispatches it easily and we enter the room it was guarding. Two more sentries stand at the far end of the room, guarding what appears to be chests.

"Bet I can kill one before you do," Quelaag says playfully.

She leaps to the one in the furthest corner as I rush to the one closest to me. Although the sentry is big, its attacks are slow and easy to avoid. It takes a few hits to kill it, but not before Quelaag has already dispatched hers. She smirks smugly as we make our way to the exit on the other side of the building, which leads to a large courtyard. The sun's rays skitter across the bleak stone floor of the courtyard, painting everything in a brilliant golden hue.

Quelaag and I meet the firekeeper of Anor Londo at a bonfire adjoining the courtyard. We briefly converse before departing again, getting as much information from her as we can about the place. A few days ago, I had been told that the next step on my journey would be to come to Anor Londo and collect something called the Lordvessel. Although I felt no need to continue on the journey I had initially set out on, since I had found a new purpose amongst Quelaag and her sisters, it seemed like an ideal adventure for us to go on. Despite the fact that the Fair Lady and Quelana had not long ago also started venturing outside, using the same lift I had built for Quelaag, this is not the type of adventure to bring them along on. They seem content to simply spend some time in Firelink Shrine, which is safer than I was told Anor Londo would be. Quelaag and I bid farewell to the firekeeper and make our way back to the courtyard. At the far end we come across a large elevator going down and, as per the firekeeper's instruction, we go down it. Once at the bottom we walk out onto a long bridge, immediately meeting another adversary. A gargoyle, looking exactly like the ones I had fought all those months ago, comes barreling towards us from the other side of the bridge. I shout a quick warning to Quelaag to watch out for its tail as I take a few steps forward to meet the beast. It leaps into the air a few dozen paces in front of me and swoops its halberd down. I dodge underneath it and turn around just in time to dodge the next swipe from its weapon. Before it can follow up with another blow it lets out a sudden screech and rears back. I quickly glance around it to see that Quelaag has pinned its tail to the ground with her sword. While the gargoyle is distracted I swiftly lunge forward and drive my sword into its chest. I manage to get in a few more blows before the creature desperately lunges forward, leaving the tip of its tail behind, still pinned by Quelaag's sword. I am knocked onto my back in the process, but quickly roll out from underneath it before it can step on me. Quelaag immediately takes her chance when she sees that I am no longer underneath the creature, leaping onto its back. The gargoyle lets out a bloodcurdling screech as Quelaag's spider mouth spits lava onto its back and head, killing it within seconds.

After a quick celebration Quelaag and I move further along the bridge, which ends in a sudden drop off. I realize that the bridge is split into multiple sections, with the middle section on the other side of a sizeable gap. It's also raised above the other sections of the bridge, making it impossible to simply leap across the gap. A quick scan of the building to our left reveals that the middle section of the bridge can be accessed from there and I assume that it can be mechanically lowered to close the gap. Quelaag and I search for a way to get to the other building, which is certainly too far away to jump to. I eventually find a rather precarious archway that runs from the bridge up to the building. There doesn't appear to be any other way to cross the gap. Quelaag and I eye each other nervously.

"You will have to wait here while I go move the bridge," I say.

She opens her mouth to protest, but stops herself, her reluctance showing in her face.

"Be careful," she sighs.

I slowly make my way up the steep incline of the archway, careful not to slip on the tiles covering it. I drop down onto a balcony on the other side and go through a rather conveniently broken window into the building. I find myself on the upper levels of a huge open hallway. With no immediate way down, I reluctantly walk across a series of narrow support beams spanning the entire upper level. After multiple instances of nearly falling to my death I reach the other side and drop down to a ledge on a lower level. I find a set of stairs that takes me down even further, eventually leading me to the bottom level. I breathe a sigh of relief as I step onto the solid floor of the great hallway. The inside of the hallway, with its multitude of enemies, does not interest me at the moment. Instead I head out a nearby door, which puts me right in front of the middle section of the bridge. I can see the relief on Quelaag's face from here as I wave up to her. I go up the spiraling staircase in front of me, which exits into the top level of the bridge-section. A huge lever sits in the middle of the platform. I heave the lever to one side, hoping it will move the platform in level with the rest of the bridge.

The platform slowly begins to rotate and it takes me a moment to realize that it's also being lowered. Soon enough it comes to a stop, level with the adjoining sections of the bridge and perfectly linking them together. Another gargoyle comes running at me from the other side of the newly-joined bridge. Before I even have my sword up, Quelaag rushes past me to engage the creature. I see the gargoyle jump into the air as I run up behind her. It lunges its tail at her, but she grabs it with her hands. I quickly jump onto her back, run along it and leap into the air as I reach her humanoid-torso. I jab my sword into the still suspended gargoyle's chest and the momentum sends it tumbling to the ground with me on top of it. The blow doesn't kill it, but before it can get up, Quelaag reaches over me and thrusts her sword into its neck. We continue further, going up a broad set of stairs, which leads to the front of another huge building. Two sentinels guard the door, both of which we easily strike down. The towering door matches the grandeur of the rest of the building. Neither Quelaag nor I can find a way to open it from the outside. Exploring the rest of the area reveals yet another set of steep archways that appear to lead into the building from the side. With no other perceptible way into the building, I realize that I once again have to leave Quelaag behind to open the way for her.

"Looks like I'm going to have to go along these infernal archways again," I sigh.

"And I am going to have to sit and wait for you…again," Quelaag says.

"I don't see any other way," I say as I survey the passage awaiting me. "I'm sure I will be able to open that door from inside, somehow."

Quelaag looks back at the door, slumps her shoulders and turns back to me. She is obviously disappointed.

"Be careful," she says after a pause.

"Was I not careful last time?" I ask in a mocking tone.

She glares at me for a moment, but I can see genuine concern on her face.

"I can handle myself," I say as reassuringly as I can. "Why don't you go back to the bonfire and wait for me there? It will be safer…"

"No!" she cuts me off. "I will wait for you right here."

She has that tone in her voice that I have heard all too many times before. She isn't going to listen to me and I'm not going to stand here and argue with her. The sooner I get inside the building, the sooner I can open the door and rejoin Quelaag. I reach out and touch her hand, giving her a nod, both of acceptance and reassurance. I can still feel her looking at me as I turn towards the nearby archway.

"At least this one has a railing," I say under my breath.


	15. Chapter 15

I barely step out onto the second archway when the first arrow comes flying at me. At first, I mistake it for a spear, due to its massive size. Soon enough, however, I see not one, but two archers firing at me with bows nearly as big as I am tall. I recklessly scurry along the archway to a large pillar in front of me, barely ducking under a barrage of arrows along the way. I take a moment to steel myself behind the pillar before shuffling around its edge and continuing onto the next archway. I frantically scurry forward, ducking under arrow after arrow. I don't even unsheathe my sword once I reach the same ledge that the knight is standing on. I rush towards it and, before it can draw its own sword, I send it over the edge with a swift kick to the stomach. I duck around the corner of the nearest wall before the other knight can fire off any more arrows. I drop down onto a balcony one story beneath me and enter the building. The interior of the building is as dangerous as the path to get inside was, with knights around every corner. A multitude of staircases and locked doors later I finally find myself inside a large hallway. I recognize the massive double doors on the far end as the same doors Quelaag and I had seen from the outside. Two sentries, similar to those outside save for a more grandeur appearance, stand guard in the hallway. On the opposite end of the hallway looms a wall of fog. I make my way down towards the sentinels and dispatch them one at a time. I run up to another archer standing across from where I entered the room and end it just as swiftly. The sheer size of the hallway creates a thick atmosphere that bears down on me like a weight as I make my way to the door. A lever off to the side confirms that the door is indeed mechanical, much to my relief. The sound of steel grinding against steel echoes through the hallway as I push the lever. The colossal doors slowly begin to creak open. The gap is barely big enough for a person to fit through when Quelaag's humanoid torso comes poking through it. She scans the room frantically, but a look of relief enters her face when she lays eyes on me. I chuckle at her, half because of her reaction and half because of my own sense of relief.

Quelaag and I make our way across the sleek floor of the grand hallway towards the fog wall on the other side. Looming high above us, the wall itself exudes an air of dominance, as if to mirror the power of whatever lurks behind it. Knowing what I usually find behind these fog walls, this might be the first real challenge Quelaag and I face together. We carefully step through the fog together. Another hallway awaits on the other side, albeit much smaller than the previous one. A golden-armored knight stands vigil at the other end of the hallway. His bulky armor reminds me somewhat of the onion-shaped knight that had helped me before, except much broader. I would consider his appearance comical, had it not been for the war hammer in his hands.

"Up on the balcony," Quelaag pulls my stare away from the knight.

A second knight emerges from the top of a balcony, right above the first. Like his compatriot, his armor is also gold, although much leaner. He jumps down from the balcony without hesitation, brandishing a lengthy spear as he lands in front of his partner. His display of agility is impressive and his ornate armor makes him look quite daunting and I catch myself feeling a tinge of admiration. I am quickly snapped out of this feeling when Quelaag speaks.

"Ornstein and Smough," she spits. "Gwyn's favorite pets."

"The smaller one looks like a capable fighter," I say, trying to mask the awe in my voice.

"That is Ornstein," Quelaag says. "He is the captain of Gwyn's knights."

As if in response to his name, Ornstein begins running toward us; his partner lumbering behind him. Ornstein moves so quickly that it takes me a moment to realize he is not running, but floating just above the marble floor. I dodge to the side, though Quelaag's sword intercepts the knight's spear before it reaches the empty space I was occupying a second ago. She twists her body towards him and her spider-mouth spews a ball of lava onto the knight. He leaps backwards, but not before the searing lava does some damage. Quelaag does not hesitate, immediately advancing toward him.

"I will take care of this one," she says, the fury in her voice echoing though the hall.

I begrudgingly run past her to intercept Smough, who has begun to charge toward us. I would have preferred to test my metal against Ornstein, however, it would be better for me to fight the larger, slower foe. It is my forte, after all. And with all of the sparring matches Quelaag and I have had over the past few months, she has gotten proficient at fighting against an enemy smaller and quicker than herself. Predictably, Smough turns his focus to me as soon as I distance myself from Quelaag. I dodge underneath the hammer blow at the end of his charge, not unimpressed by the speed of his swing. I steal a look towards Quelaag, who takes a moment from her stare-down with Ornstein to glance my way. We give each other a nod of reinforcement.

Smough's mighty hammer comes bearing down on top of my head – I step to the side to easily avoid it. Although his blows are quick, they are also predictable. I dodge between his hits with relative ease, getting in a hit or two of my own each time. Every so often I glance over at Quelaag, who seems to be having as easy of a fight as I am. Ornstein is fast, but Quelaag stops each of his attacks in its tracks, either with her sword or with her spider-head's lava. A cocky grin appears on her face when she sees me looking at her, obviously inciting a challenge. She wants to see who can kill their opponent first, I know it. Before I can respond, I'm forced to dodge another blow from Smough, this time following up with multiple blows of my own. Although I'm determined to beat Quelaag at her little suggestive challenge, I only get a handful of hits in before I hear an agonizing cry from across the room. My opponent and I both stop dead in our tracks and look over at where our respective partners where fighting. Quelaag stands triumphantly behind her opponent with her sword raised. Ornstein is slumped down on his knees, not yet dead, but Quelaag's final blow is sure to finish him. Smough suddenly turns heel and rushes towards them. I cry out a warning to Quelaag as I attempt to stop him, but he leaps into the air before I can reach him. Quelaag leaps back in anticipation of his blow, but it isn't directed at her. He smashes his hammer down onto his partner, crushing him in the process. Quelaag and I look at him, then each other, stunned. To answer our obviously confused looks, Smough begins to grow. As if absorbing the power of the comrade he had just killed, he grows about thrice in size. Quelaag is the first to advance on him, not showing any signs of being intimidated. She leaps right up to him and spews lava at his feet. He screams as he leaps back, landing right in front of me. I quickly capitalize, slashing at his back with my sword. In one swift motion he swings his hammer around and towards me, though I dodge the blow easily. Before he can raise his hammer to swing at me once more, Quelaag once again leaps at him, driving her sword into his back and again spewing lava onto him. She leaps back before he can sweep his hammer towards her again.

We repeat the process several times, only deviating from the sequence when Smough leaps into the air and comes crashing into the ground in a flurry of lightning. Quelaag and I react quick enough to avoid the attack. Smough has no answer for our relentless onslaught. The massive knight falls to the ground screaming as Quelaag delivers the final blow. We stand there for a while, panting heavily as we regain our breath.

"That was a good fight," Quelaag manages to say once she regains her breath.

"You did well," I say as we begin to walk towards the other end of the room.

"I always do well," she says, playfully nudging me with one of her legs.

We arrive at the end of the hallway, with no visible way forward other than a small elevator going up one level. It's obviously too small for Quelaag and a look of disappointment appears on her face. It's the same look she had on the last two occasions when I had to leave her behind.

"It's not that high up," I say as I climb onto the elevator. "You should be able to make the jump."

When I reach top, I'm greeted by a smirking Quelaag. We continue through a set of open doors into another huge room, though smaller than the last.

I do not remember much of what happened after that. I woke up only a few minutes ago next to the bonfire in the Fair Lady's chamber. Quelaag was scolding me before I had even opened my eyes completely. According to her, she knocked me unconscious for allegedly staring at some sort of woman we had encountered in that room. The woman was apparently well endowed and I had somehow given Quelaag the idea that I was infatuated with her. Between near incoherent ramblings of being a "typical man" and thinly masked admissions that she had overreacted, I managed to discern that we were given some sort of vessel by the woman. Quelaag then brought me and the vessel back here. Her last words before falling asleep were at least apologetic. She admitted that she hadn't meant to hit me that hard. She is sleeping now, no doubt exhausted from the journey. Looking at Quelaag, despite the throbbing pain in my head, I can't bring myself to be angry at her.


	16. Chapter 16

A musty breeze flows through the cool air as I sit down with my back against a tree. Darkroot Garden seems to be one of the few places in Lordran where one can find relative peace and quiet. The trio of sisters accompanying me each find their own respective place to comfortably sit down. Quelana follows my example and plops down against a tree across from where I'm sitting, uttering a relieved sigh as she does so. She looks as comfortable as I've ever seen her. The Fair Lady slowly sits down next to her and the two of them exchange a warm smile. Quelaag diligently surveys the surrounding trees before slowly sitting down between the Fair Lady and me, so that the four of us are sitting in a tight semicircle. I savor the rare moment of serenity as no one speaks for a few minutes. I almost begin to doze off when the Fair Lady finally breaks the silence.

"It has been quite some time since we've spent some time together," she says. "I am happy that we have this opportunity."

"Indeed," Quelana says as she looks at Quelaag and me. "You two have been quite busy. I trust that you have made good progress."

"We have," I say. "I have already collected the souls of Gravelord Nito and Seath the Scaleless. I only need to kill the Four Kings and then…"

I let my words trail off. The sisters nod in silent agreement.

"I will be glad when this is all over," the Fair Lady says. "It will be good to have the two of you back with us again on a more permanent basis."

After finding and placing the Lordvessel, I learned that I was supposed to defeat Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder. It seemed like it would be a decent challenge, which Quelaag and I would eventually get to. However, when I told the sisters about it, they all seemed to be interested in taking Gwyn's life. Even the Fair Lady.

Quelaag and I had set out to collect the four lord souls, which are needed to open the passage to Gwyn himself. Much like our little adventure in Anor Londo, there were a few places where Quelaag's size would not allow her to continue. She accompanied me as far as she could, but in the end, I had to fight both Gravelord Nito and Seath the Scaleless alone. She had insisted on both occasions to stay behind and wait for me. I suspect it will be much the same with my next target: The Four Kings. Since they reside in the Abyss, we have to find a way to get to them. All clues as to how to achieve that lead to Darkroot Garden, specifically to the grave of a certain Abysswalker. Since I've been here before, I knew it would also be a nice place to bring Quelana and the Fair Lady. We hadn't spent time with them in a while. Quelaag and I could also use some time to unwind. I initially had no immediate interest in killing Gwyn, but after relaying the story to Quelaag and her sisters, they quickly changed my mind. They had told me the story of their mother. How she attempted to recreate the first flame, which led to Quelaag and the Fair Lady becoming half-demons.

"Gwyn felt threatened by the demons that spawned from the resulting Chaos," Quelana had said.

"He took his knights and hunted us down," Quelaag said. "My sister and I had to go into hiding. We needed to escape from Gwyn as much as we needed to escape from the Chaos."

He hadn't succeeded in defeating the demons, but the sisters found new lives outside of their home. Quelana has since made amends for escaping from the Chaos without harm, despite Quelaag and the Fair Lady not being so lucky. They have in turn long since accepted their new forms, even learning to love their bodies. Despite their acceptance of what had happened, Quelaag and Quelana still held a grudge against Gwyn for his hatred of demons. Despite her general disapproval of violence, the Fair Lady supported her sisters' wishes. She even seemed willing to take part in the fight, if nothing else to ensure the rest of our safety.

Now, here in Darkroot Garden, I would rather forget about the whole thing for a moment and just enjoy their company. The moonlight beaming through the trees creates an atmosphere of absolute serenity, making it difficult to think about fighting. Despite that, I find myself looking back at the fights we had gone through just to get to this quiet spot. A clan of forest protectors had tried to bar our way, though they were no match for two seasoned fighters and a master pyromancer. Even the Fair Lady almost joined the fight when a particularly sneaky hunter attempted to stab Quelana in the back. I managed to intercept him, though, and the Fair Lady seemed relieved as the flames of a pyromancy spell faded from her hands. I am about to bring the incident up when Quelaag jumps up next to me, startling me and her sisters.

"Wait!" the Fair Lady exclaims as Quelaag draws her sword.

I draw my own as I peer around Quelaag to see what had caused her to jump up. Between Quelaag and the Fair Lady, standing as tall as my knee, a small creature cautiously approaches. It's startled by Quelaag's harsh response, but seems comforted by the Fair Lady's gentle, outstretched hand. She smiles softly down at the little creature whilst gesturing with her other hand for Quelaag and me to desist. The creature's stumpy little legs carry it nervously towards the Fair Lady. The little creature looks like a large mushroom that had got up and sprouted arms and legs. Its stumpy body is a light cream color and the cap on its head is a reddish-brown. The Fair Lady places her hand on the creature's head, letting out a light chuckle as she does so. The creature looks confused, then annoyedly pushes her hand away when she starts rubbing its head. The Fair Lady bursts out in sweet laughter, then curtsies apologetically to the mushroom-creature. Quelana and I join her laughter, but Quelaag merely stares into the forest to her right. A few hundred paces away, two similar-looking creatures seem to be eying us suspiciously. They look just like the mushroom-creature in front of us, except they are much larger. I would guess them to be a little taller than myself. Quelaag and I exchange a glance but remain where we are. The small creature begins to scamper away towards them. They appear to lose interest in us as soon as the little creature joins them.

The air begins to grow colder as the Fair Lady and I gather firewood for the night to come. Quelana had decided that she and Quelaag needed to spend some quality time together, so she joined her sister in foraging for dinner. The Fair Lady had insisted that they weren't allowed to hunt any of those small, delicious-looking mushroom-creatures, much to Quelaag's and my dismay.

"You seem tired," the Fair Lady says while I pull on a particularly stubborn branch on a tree.

She barely stifles a laugh when the branch snaps and I land firmly on my backside.

"I'm fine," I say as I brush the dirt from my pants. "I will be better once this all is over."

"You shouldn't overexert yourself," she says.

"Don't worry too much about me," I tell her, meeting her ever-gentle smile with one of my own.

"You are nearly as stubborn as my sister," she chuckles.

"Nearly," I groan as I pick up the bundle of sticks I've accumulated.

The Fair Lady picks up a bundle of her own and we begin to make our way back to our small encampment.

"Quelana says that she asked you to kill our mother before you met Quelaag and me," she says as we drop our bundles.

"She did," I say. "She believes that your mother is suffering and asked me to put an end to her misery."

"I want to ask something else of you," she says, her tone becoming more serious. "Quelaag will want to go with you when you fight her. I don't want her to be there when you fight my mother. She is strong, but she has been through a lot already. I do not want her to have to go through killing her own mother as well. Even if our mother isn't who she used to be. Please, will you do this for me?"

"Of course," I say as I arrange the bundles of wood in a neat circle. "She won't be easy to convince, but if there is anyone who can do it, it's me."

"Thank you," the Fair Lady says as her usual smile returns to her face.

She lights the circle of wood in front of me with a simple pyromancy. The cold air is immediately chased away from me as the bundle lights up, just as Quelaag and Quelana come walking into camp. Quelaag's face carries a look of utter dread. It's a look that I mirror once I see the bundle of roots and leaves that Quelana is carrying; not a piece of meat in sight.


	17. Chapter 17

Quelaag's body does little to shield me from the stifling heat as she enters the lava. The heat doesn't appear to affect her much, as she trudges through the lava as if she is merely walking through dense mud. She looks back at me and, seeing the sweat already cascading from my face, she immediately quickens her pace. She wouldn't tell me why we hadn't taken the higher route, one which didn't involve walking through molten rock, and instead opted to take the lower path.

"This is the only way forward," was all she had said.

I did not protest, as she clearly knows the Demon Ruins better than I do. As we near the end of the lava pool, Quelaag tells me to hold on and leaps over the last couple of yards onto solid ground. The air on this side of the lava is breathable, though still quite hot. We encounter a squadron of familiar-looking demons at the bottom of the next flight of stairs. Quelaag is understandably more reserved with her fighting than usual. Though she does not hold back as we dispatch the demons one-by-one, she doesn't show her usual vigor either. Despite the fact that she clearly does not enjoy having to kill the demons of Izalith, she had insisted on accompanying me on the journey to slay her mother. As per the Fair Lady's request, however, I will not allow her to join me in the battle against the Witch of Izalith herself. We soon arrive at the first bonfire of the area, although we do not stop to rest.

"Are you sure you want to continue?" I ask Quelaag as we begin to make our way to a large set of stairs.

"I am," she says. "I need to do this. For myself and for my sisters."

"I understand," I say, trying to convince myself. "Just know that you can stop at any time. I am sure that I can handle whatever this place throws at me by myself."

She says nothing, but she flashes me a thankful smile as we reach the top of the stairs.

Although I quite confidently told Quelaag that I would be able to handle the rest of Izalith myself, I am glad that I have her with me. After disposing of some more demons, we head into a large building with a fog wall inside. Quelaag, however, knows of a shortcut that we can use to get to the kiln of Izalith much faster. Though she normally wouldn't pass up a potential fight such as the one before us, it's understandable why she would want to avoid it. We go down a large root-like structure that leads to a sprawling corridor, at the end of which is a massive set of stone doors. Quelaag walks up to the doors and, with seemingly superhuman strength, pushes them open.

"There is a magic seal on this door," she says. "Only my sisters and I can release the seal, which opens the doors."

We encounter nearly a dozen large, bug-like creatures as we step through the doors. Even though they appear harmless, merely hopping away as we approach, Quelaag and I instinctively swipe at them with our swords as we walk by. The largest one, presumably their alpha, instantly burns away at the hands of one of Quelaag's pyromancies. We arrive at a narrow bridge spanning across a wide expanse of lava below. A stone demon, looking much like the one I had faced at the entrance to Darkroot Garden so long ago, stands guard in the middle of the bridge. Quelaag and I carefully approach the demon, which has its back turned to us. We manage to get right up against the demon without being detected when Quelaag motions for me to step back. She keeps her gaze locked on me while her spider-head keeps its eyes on the demon standing inches from its face. Once she is satisfied that I am far enough away, she turns back towards the demon, then stoops downward to hug her spider body. Her entire body begins to emit a red glow. I haven't seen her cast this spell since the day we met, and it brings back memories of nearly losing my life. The demon remains blissfully unaware of her presence as her spell charges up, then she releases it with a deafening boom. The demon frantically claws at the ground as it's thrown onto its side by the blast. It rolls over once; twice; then three times to topple over the side of the bridge, landing in the lava below with a loud splash.

At the end of the bridge, Quelaag and I rest for a moment before continuing. The spell obviously took a lot of energy to cast, as she looks visibly drained.

"There it is," she says as she points in front of us.

There is a small courtyard directly in front of us, with an elevated area just beyond it, which is where Quelaag is pointing.

"My mother's kiln is there, which is where we will find her," she says.

"You mean where I will find her," I say.

She looks at me, trying to appear surprised.

"I know you want to help me fight, but I cannot let you fight your own mother," I say.

"I will not let you face her alone!" she says, almost desperately.

"I can handle her," I say. "I have taken on some powerful enemies by myself before. I am sure I can take on another one without you."

"This is different," she says unconvincingly. "The Chaos has warped her. I do not know what you will find when step into that kiln."

Although she is trying to be stubborn, I can tell there is a part of her that agrees with me. I reach up and gently take her hand in mine.

"Quelaag, please," I say. "Everything I have done these past few months has been for you and your sisters. You have helped me with a lot of it. Help me again this time by going back to your sisters and waiting for me there."

I softly pull her arm towards me, signaling her to lean down.

"I will return to you alive," I say as she bends down to lean closer. "I give you my word."

She says nothing as tears begin to stream down her face. I wipe them away with my free hand, her soft skin warm to my touch and I notice my heart beating faster than during any fight. Then, when she is a mere inch from my face, I pull myself toward her, embracing her lips with mine. I can feel the heat radiating from her face as we hold the moment for as long as we dare. I eventually manage to pull away and, without a word, we both turn around.

As I reach the end of the courtyard I turn around to see Quelaag walking slowly back to the Demon Ruins. My mind is swimming with emotions, but I do my best to push them back and focus on the task at hand. The courtyard is filled with small stone-demons, though they are quite slow and easy to kill. Large root-like structures tangle though the whole area, seemingly originating from the kiln Quelaag had pointed to. I walk up one of these roots onto a pathway reading to the entrance of the kiln. For a moment I think I see Quelana standing in front of the entrance, but she casts a pyromancy as soon as she spots me. I dodge forward twice as two fireballs come flying towards me in quick succession.

"What are you doing?" I yell as I leap towards her and grab her arm.

"Die!" she yells in a voice that clearly does not belong to Quelaag as she sprouts a flame in her other hand and flings to towards my face. I yank her arm to my left and strafe to my right and the flame flies past the side of my head, the heat taking my breath away. I instinctively jam through my sword her back, piercing her heart in one swift motion. She falls to her knees without making a sound. I grab the hood of her cloak and pull it down, giving a sigh of relief when I see her face. Though she bares some resemblance to Quelana, it is not her. She must be one of their other sisters who stayed behind to protect her mother. I feel a tinge of guilt as I pull my sword from her body. Should I have tried to reason with her instead? Perhaps she would have calmed down if I merely mentioned that I knew her sisters. I contemplate these things as I turn towards the entrance of the kiln, covered by a fog gate, as is to be expected. I try to shake the thought of having just killed one of Quelaag's siblings from my mind as I step through the fog. A steep, smooth declivity stands directly in front of me, covered in smaller versions of the same roots in the area before. Seeing no other obvious way forward, I carefully place my foot onto the downward slope. I nearly lose my balance as I immediately begin sliding once I place my other foot on the slope. It takes all of my focus not to topple over as I slide all the way down the slope and in to the heart of the kiln.

As soon as I land at the bottom I understand what Quelaag meant when she said that the Chaos had twisted her mother. Embedded into the opposite wall is a huge, tree-like creature with roots spreading out from it in all directions. It has two long, wooden arms with long, thin branches protruding from their ends to make up two gnarly hands. On either side of it, two glowing domes immediately grab my attention. They appear to be protective spells, both covering areas of dense bramble-like roots. Prior experience with a certain albino dragon makes me instinctively rush towards the dome on my left. If, like with the dragon, they protect her from harm, I want to take care of them as soon as possible. The creature swipes at me with one of its hulking hands, though I easily jump over the blow. When I reach the dome, I see a light inside the bramble. I begin hacking at the flimsy roots, easily slicing my way to the center. The source of the light appears to be a staff embedded into the floor, which I also easily bisect. The creature lets out an ear-splitting screech as I do so and the ground beneath me begins to light up: a telltale sign of an impending pyromancy. I leap backwards just in time as a pillar of flame erupts from the ground where I was standing. The ground begins to shake violently as I begin to make my way around the creature towards the dome on its other side. Within a few strides the floor suddenly gives way underneath me. I instinctively reach out with my free hand and manage to grab onto a root hanging over the newly formed hole. I quickly pull my self back up, only to see the creature's arm gliding towards me. It tries to push me back into the hole as it sweeps its arm, but I grab onto its hand instead. I let go as soon as it has me over solid ground, this time walking carefully towards the other dome. A part of the floor on this side of the creature also falls in, though I anticipate it and jump away in time. I reach the dome and once again hack my way to the center, destroying the staff inside. The creature's reaction is much the same as before and I quickly sprint towards where it's already monotonously swiping its arm across the floor. I leap forward and jump onto its hand, letting it carry me safely over the gaping hole in the floor. I see that the floor in front of the creature has also now caved in, revealing a hole appearing to lead to its core. Without giving it much thought, I take a running leap onto the hole, landing on some roots. I waste no time in moving forward, into the creature's core. To my surprise I find a large, deformed bug at its center, appearing to control the creature above. This must be what's left of the Witch of Izalith. She recoils as I approach and, as I raise my sword, I can't help but think that I'm doing her a favor by killing her.


	18. Chapter 18

An eerie sense of anticipation dominates the usually lively atmosphere at Firelink Shrine. It is as if the world itself is in anticipation of what is about to transpire. Quelana sits idly by the bonfire, staring deeply into its bosom. The Fair Lady sits a level below the rest of us, chatting happily away with her fellow Firekeeper beneath the bonfire. Even through her unbreakably positive demeanor I can tell she is as nervous as the rest of us. Quelaag does less to mask her nerves, as she paces up and down the length of the Shrine. I do not feel much calmer, though I make more of an effort to conceal my nervousness. The upcoming fight against Gwyn does not make me nervous in itself, but the fact that the Fair Lady insists on joining us in the fight does. I am sure that the feeling is mutual with both Quelaag and Quelana, as both of them are capable fighters. Although the Fair Lady is also a capable pyromancer, she is not a fighter.

"You two seem to be having a good time," I say as I walk down the stairs to the two Firekeepers. "You know, you could stay here. You do not have to come with us."

"I know," she says with her signature smile spreading across her face.

"Your sisters and I can handle Gwyn," I say coaxingly.

"I have no doubt in your capabilities," she says. "But Gwyn has caused a great deal of pain. Not only to my family, but to the rest of the world as well. I want to be there when he is put to justice. Even if he is merely a husk of his former self. I owe it to my sisters; my mother; the demons of Izalith; the residents of Blighttown and every other person he has ever wronged."

"It is noble of you," I say defeatedly. "But I am sure that he will be a challenging adversary. I will do all I can to protect you, but you may need to defend yourself. Will you be able to do that?"

"I am grateful to you and my sisters," she says. "Although I normally would not want to partake in the fight, it would not be right of me to just stand by and watch."

Her reassuring demeanor makes me wonder why I even bothered trying to convince her otherwise. She can be as stubborn as her sisters, though she is much more effective at getting her way. I try to meet her smile with one of my own as I silently sigh while making my way back to the upper level.

"Is it time?" Quelana asks as I make my way up the steps.

I answer her with a silent nod.

The oppressive atmosphere in the Kiln of the First Flame does little to help our already dampened spirits. I try to put the imminence of what is about to transpire at the back of my mind as we kill the first black knight we encounter. The second one falls as quick as the first, being no match for two seasoned fighters. Quelana joins me in taking care of the third knight, whom we find on a rather precarious array of ledges. After helping Quelaag and the Fair Lady carefully cross the ledges, we quickly dispatch the final few black knights in the Kiln. As we come up on the fog gate at the bottom of a set of stairs, all of my previous nerves are exiled by a surge of adrenaline.

"Give me a few moments to draw his attention before traversing the fog," I say to the ladies behind me.

The familiar roar of the fog envelops my senses, clearing my head for the fight that is to come. As I enter the room, Gwyn's presence immediately grabs all of my attention. His withered, hollow form still exudes an intimidating aura, accentuated by the flaming greatsword he wields in one hand. I quickly begin strafing to my left and away from the fog wall as he slowly approaches me. What is at first an almost cocky walk soon turns into a sprint, which in turns transitions in a mighty leap from the Lord of Cinder. I am surprised by his speed, though I manage to comfortably dodge underneath his lunging swipe. Before I can follow up with a swipe of my own, he swiftly swings his sword at me again. As I dodge back, I can hear the fog gate roaring again, Quelaag's figure being the first to appear through the gate.

As Gwyn's attention is turned toward the fog gate, I capitalize on the opportunity by quickly delivering a series of blows with my sword. He does not appear too bothered by the hits, as he quickly swipes at me with his blade, flames trailing through the air. The speed of his attacks makes it difficult to roll underneath them, causing me to constantly fall back as I roll backwards. The second and third roar of the bonfire come quickly after the first, though Gwyn does not drop his focus on me this time. A mistake on his part, as he is soon met by a lunging stab by Quelaag. The hit knocks him back, giving me some time to close the distance he had created between us. He is quick to get back up, though, and does not take long to begin attacking again. Although Quelaag and I would normally circle an enemy like him, he is too quick for me to flank him. As soon as it appears as though I have the upper hand, he turns toward Quelaag, forcing me to regain his attention, as his attacks are too fast for her to avoid. An orb of fire suddenly comes crashing into Gwyn, and I look over to see Quelana standing between us and the Fair Lady, who is thankfully remaining close to the fog gate.

Gwyn quickly turns toward Quelana, giving Quelaag and me an opportunity to once again strike at him. He seems to anticipate this, though, as he suddenly strafes away from me and slashes his sword at Quelaag's legs. Neither of us can react quickly enough, and his sword swipes her four left legs from underneath her, sending her crashing to the ground with a painful wail. I lunge at him with my sword, but my attention is focused on his sword hand, causing me to not see his other hand lunging toward my throat. I am stopped dead in my tracks as he grabs onto my neck. He picks me up into the air and sends me flying backwards in a huge explosion of flames. A sharp pain shoots trough my body as my back hits a wall and I fall onto my face. My head feels like it's about to explode and merely attempting to open my eyes is immensely painful. Through glazed over eyes I see the bright flash of a pyromancy some distance away, followed by a barely audible scream through the ringing in my ears. As I try to rise to my feet my body is screaming at me to lie down. I can feel my mind flickering towards unconsciousness as blackness begins to envelop my vision. Another flash temporarily chases away the blackness and I can vaguely make out Gwyn's figure close to the fog wall.

"No," I try to scream, but what comes out is barely audible.

I shake my head violently, clearing out some of the ringing in my ears.

"Get away from them!" I hear Quelaag screaming.

Shaking my head some more, adamantly fighting against my own body, the blurriness begins to fade from my vision. Quelaag is slowly crawling towards Gwyn, using only the legs on her right side and pulling herself along using her blade. I slowly rise to my own feet, careful not to let the blood rush away from my head too quickly. Ignoring the pain searing through my body, I also hobble towards Gwyn, who I can now see is fighting Quelana. She appears to be managing to keep her distance from Gwyn, though his relentless attacks give her no time to cast any pyromancies. Quelaag suddenly sends a fireball flying towards Gwyn, though the distance is too great for it to reach its target. I realize that the flashes of fire I had seen must have been coming from her.

As I stumble along towards the other side of the room, having already passed Quelaag, Gwyn suddenly leaps into the air and swings his sword down at Quelana. She jumps back but isn't fast enough to completely avoid the strike. Gwyn's searing sword connects with her midsection, sending her crashing to the ground.

"No!" Quelaag screams.

I desperately try to increase my pace, causing me to topple forward. As I rise to my feet again I can see Quelana trying to crawl away from Gwyn as he looms over her. He raises his sword above his head, pointing it towards the figure below him. I try to scream at him, but no more than a hoarse croak escapes my throat. Before Gwyn can bring his sword down he is suddenly enveloped in a whirling mass of flames. He staggers back as he violently tries to wave the flames off, giving Quelana and opportunity to rise back to her feet. Just as the flames fade from Gwyn's body, another ball of fire comes crashing into him. I look towards the source of the flame to see the Fair Lady preparing another pyromancy in her hands. Gwyn turns towards her, but a flame comes flying over my shoulder, hitting him square in the chest. Quelaag must have come within range, as it could only have come from her. As he turns towards us another flame comes crashing into his back, coming from Quelana. He jolts around angrily towards her, groaning in pain as he does so, only to be pelted by another pyromancy from the Fair Lady. Her flame causes him to fall to his knees. I stop a few yards away from him, letting the pyromancers finish what they started. One final pyromancy from Quelana turns out to be all that is needed to kill Gwyn. The Lord of Cinder lets out one last defiant grunt as he falls to the ground.


	19. Epilogue

It has been nearly a month since Quelaag, her sisters and I defeated the Lord of Cinder. We chose not to relink the First Flame, instead leaving it to fizzle out completely. We had returned to Blighttown battered and bruised, but alive. Gwyn has been brought to justice. The Witch of Izalith has been put to rest. The Fair Lady has been restored to full health, save for her blindness, although even that does little to hinder her. I have accomplished everything I set out to do since meeting Quelaag and her sisters. Although I still have a great deal of fighting spirit, I feel like I am ready to settle down. That is why I once again find myself knee-deep in Blighttown's swamp. I am helping a few servants dig a trench along the length of the swamp. When it's finished, we are going to cover it up and it will act as an underground pipeline to funnel the waste water coming from the Depths away from Blighttown. The swamp will eventually be drained completely, leaving behind dry earth for us to build on. Quelana is overseeing another major project, which aims to replace the rickety scaffolding on the upper levels of Blighttown with proper walkways and buildings. Quelaag is overseeing the excavation of raw materials from around the swamp, which will in turn be used to build. The Fair Lady, assisted by Eingyi, is overseeing the rebuilding of the lift to Firelink Shrine. Once the poison has been drained from the area and we are properly connected to the outside world, we can begin building a proper town down here.

I am down to my waist in mud by the time Quelaag comes by to signal the end of the day. I begin to walk towards her, only to realize that my feet are firmly stuck in the mud. I am pulled back by the thick muck clinging at my feet, causing me to fall forward and receive a face full of water. I can barely raise my head out of the water before already hearing Quelaag chuckle at me. I wipe the gunk from my face as she walks up to me, looking down at my sorry state with a smirk. Before I can even open my mouth to speak, she bends down and grabs onto my shoulders, pulling me out of the mud and picking me up like a child. I half-expect her to carry me out of the water like this, but she instead throws me onto her back. We walk back to our home without saying a word, though we share a chuckle when I climb off of her back and we look at each other. Thankfully, the servants have already prepared several jugs of water for us. We have not had much time alone together since starting all of the building projects, which makes us cherish moments such as these. We take our time in bathing together, exchanging no words, but merely enjoying each other's company. As soon as we finish, I don some fresh clothes and we join The Fair Lady and Quelana at the bonfire. As we have become accustomed to, we share a hearty dinner as each of us relays how our day went in turn. As each of us talks I cannot help but wonder how different things would have turned out for all of us if I had not met them. All that I know is that being with them makes me happy. And happiness is a rare thing in this world.

END


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